


A Slave for Love

by Newrose12



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-10
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2017-11-07 10:38:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/430143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newrose12/pseuds/Newrose12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin Slash Modern AU.  Warlocks are enslaved and sold to be either sex slaves or servants.  Merlin was captured and sold to Camelot's Underground, a company run and owned by the Pendragon's.  The Pendragon's run a large corporation that buy and sell warlock slaves and run several brothels where warlocks are used as sex slaves.<br/>Arthur works with his father and comes across Merlin who is also a carrier, one who can carry children, and decides to keep him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Slash, if you didn't get that from the description. Also mentions of non-con, abuse, starvation, slavery. Possible trigger warning.

Uther Pendragon looked up at the three men that entered his office, the one in the middle bound in iron chains, an iron collar around his throat. Leaning back, he looked over the boy in the middle, he was tall, lanky, had unruly dark hair, high cheek bones and startling blue eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt you, sir," the man on the right, a vile man called Valiant, a slave trader and someone Uther preferred not to deal with on a regular basis, said in greeting. It was late and Uther had planned to leave in the next twenty minutes but the interruption was going to prolong that time. He didn't usually see new acquisitions, it was left to his son or one of his many employees but he was one of the only ones left in the building at the time. He owned and ran Camelot's Underground, though it wasn't as underground as it had been in the beginning, and had from the start and had enough employees to deal with the scum that were slave traders like the two in front of him. He sighed and sat back, eying the boy in the middle once again before turning back to the men.

"The interruption is done, what do you have for me?" he asked, and the other man pushed the boy in the middle to the floor on his knees.

"New acquisition for your approval," Valiant said, grinning and Uther stood, making his way around the desk to stand in front of the boy.

"Where is he from?" he asked, tipping the boys chin to look down at his eyes that stared back defiantly.

"Small village of Ealdor," the other man, George said, grinning, showing that he was missing three of his top set of teeth.

"Ealdor is beyond Camelot's territory," he said, his voice low and dangerous, promising pain and retribution for doing something so stupid as to take a warlock from the bordering lands. Both men who were standing paled and they took a step back from the older man.

"We didn't take him from there," Valiant defended the two of them, "we bought him from a trader from there." Uther stared between them for a moment, it was against the law to cross the border to enslave warlocks but trade between two slave merchants from both sides was completely legal.

"You have the documents?" he demanded, turning his gaze back to the young man on his knees.

"Of course, we're not new to this," Valiant said and snapped his mouth shut at the look Uther gave him and he held out the papers and Uther took a moment, looking over the pages to make sure everything was in order, including the price.

"Strip him," he demanded and the two standing pulled the boy to his feet and quickly undid the shirt and pants, and pulled them from his body.

Uther's first impression that the boy was thin was an understatement, the boy was skin and bones, and he could see almost every rib and his hips were sharp points under the near-translucent skin. The boy's hands were covering his privates and Uther snorted as he circled the boy once, noticing the knees poking out and the slight trembling that he was trying to hide. He circled again after poking the boy in the ribs, running his fingers over the protruding bones and then ran a hand over his shoulder blades as he passed. He could see each and every bone in the boy's spine, each bone sticking out as if the skin had been pulled too tightly over his body. He ran his hand down the boy's back and over his behind, squeezing lightly causing the boy to suck in a breath. His hand ran between the boy's cheeks and ran a finger over his entrance, causing the boy to jerk and try to pull away this time, his trembling changing to outright shaking.

"Virgin?" he asked, looking at Valiant who grinned back.

"According to the man we bought him from, they didn't touch him and you know me and my men don't sample," he explained and Uther knew that was a lie, but did not believe the other man would dare lie to him. Uther made a noncommittal noise and moved around to the boy's front and pulled his hands away from his privates. His cock was a good size while soft and hung between his legs, shaking slightly with the rest of his body.

"Fifteen," he said, going to sit behind his desk, leaving the boy to try to cover himself once again.

"That's not even half!" Valiant cried after spluttering for a long moment, George staring at Uther in horror and anger.

"The boy is too thin to put to work, I will need to keep him out of the rooms until we can fatten him up, and until that happens, I will be losing money on him."

"Twenty-five," Valiant said and Uther sat back and eyed the three men in front of him before smirking.

"Fifteen," he restated, he wasn't going to back down on this, he had had several slaves come to him in this condition, half ended up dying anyway, malnutrition was a dangerous and tricky thing.

"We'll go elsewhere," George spoke up and Uther turned a cool gaze towards him and the other man swallowed thickly.

"I can guarantee that you will not get a better price for him, I pay the best, even for one that would be felled by a strong wind." The two slavers looked at each other and had a silent conversation, their hands flying, talking in their own language. Uther of course, knew exactly what they were saying, it was his job to know these things after all, and knew he won long before the two were done 'speaking'.

"Seventeen," Valiant tried once again and Uther shook his head and leaned back, resting his fingers over his stomach and stared them down, not saying a word. "Fine!" Valiant said after a long moment, glowering at the man at the desk and Uther nodded.

"You can talk to Morgana outside, she will pay you," he said dismissively and the two men turned and stormed out. When they were gone, he turned to his computer and sent Morgana a quick message, letting her know exactly how much. He didn't think the two would be stupid enough to try to take more, but he couldn't be sure. Once he was done, he again looked at the boy in front of him who was staring at a point above Uther's head, the defiant look still there.

"How old are you?" he asked and the boy jumped before turning his eyes to him, looking away a moment later but didn't respond. Uther stood and walked around his desk and pulled the boys face up, as he was a bit shorter than him and searched his eyes. "When I ask a question, it is to be answered, am I understood," he demanded, his hand tightening on the boy's chin. The young man's jaw worked for a moment as if trying to deny the man his answer.

"Sixteen," was the reply, the voice was rough and rasped as if his throat was full of sandpaper.

"Younger than I usually take, but that is fine," Uther said and let go of the boy's chin before returning to his seat. "Name?" he demanded.

"Merlin," was the reply and Uther typed something into his computer before turning to his phone and punching in a number.

"Gaius," he said in greeting when the other man answered, "come to my office," he said, it was not a request, before he hung up, expecting the man to do as was told. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Merlin had started to sway and he looked pale as if about to collapse. Climbing to his feet, Uther walked around and moved Merlin to the couch he had against the wall and made him sit. He turned on his heel, ignoring Merlin's questioning look and poured a glass of water from the small en suite kitchenette and thrust it into his hands.

"Drink that slowly," he demanded, again ignoring the questioning look that turned into a confused and cautious look as he sipped at the water.

"Mr. Pendragon?" a voice asked and Uther looked up from his work behind his computer to see the old physician, Gaius standing there and he waved him in. "What can I help you with?" he asked, moving into the room.

"New acquisition," Uther replied, pointing to the couch where Merlin had fallen asleep, head pillowed on his arm across the arm of the chair.

"He looks half dead," Gaius said, crouching down beside the boy, his knees giving off a loud pop.

"I believe he is," Uther replied as he started to shut down his computer for the night, "I want weekly updates on his weight and general health," he said, standing and pulling on his coat as Gaius started to wake Merlin.

"Of course Mr. Pendragon," Gaius said, helping Merlin into the clothes that had been pulled from his frame earlier and leading him out of the office. Uther followed and closed the door before locking it, turning in the opposite direction from Gaius and Merlin towards where his car was waiting for him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Gaius led the young man to the elevators near the back and once they opened, pressed the button for the basement floor. On their way down, the older of the two watched the other closely as he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Once they reached their destination, they entered a long hallway that led out in front of them, lined on both sides by doors, a set of double doors at the end. Gaius led the young man through the double doors to an examination room beyond where he pushed him onto a bed. Gaius moved to his computer and pulled up the information that Uther had sent him on the boy, Merlin, Gods he was young, and printed the information out.

"Merlin," he said, taking the papers and placing them into an empty manila folder as he approached the bed and the shaking boy. "Do you have a last name?" he asked, placing the folder on a table next to the bed.

"Does it matter?" was the low, raspy reply and Gaius sighed.

"It is for our records my dear boy," he said gently, placing his hand on Merlin's knee and the boy jumped, causing his hand to remove.

"Emrys," he said after a long moment and Gaius blinked in surprise.

"From Ealdor?" he said to himself, picking up the folder again. "Are you Hunith's boy?" he asked and the dark head lifted, looking at him in shock.

"You know my mother?" he asked, hope shining in his eyes.

"I did, a long time ago," Gaius said, "we keep in contact every once in a while."

"Can you tell her I'm ok?" Merlin asked, his voice pleading, "she has no one else now that I'm gone."

"I will Merlin," he said, smiling gently at him and pretended not to notice when tears started falling down the boy's cheeks.

"You can't help me can you?" was a question that brought his head up from preparing his instruments.

"I cannot, I am sorry," Gaius said gently and Merlin let out a slight sob and Gaius, not for the first time, felt he wanted to cry along with him. He checked his blood pressure, listened to his lungs and heart, drew blood and then had him stand on the scale.

"One hundred and ten pounds," Gaius said, shaking his head, disgusted at how the poor boy had been treated. "Do you have any allergies?" he asked and Merlin shook his head, and Gaius felt relieved, glad he didn't have to worry about that. "We'll start you on a diet to get your weight up to where it should be, start you on vitamins and once you're up to weight, an exercise timetable."

Once he was done, Gaius led him back through the double doors and to the first door on the right and entered a code, causing the door to slide open. Inside was a medium sized room with a small bed, a dresser, a TV set and a door to the left.

"That door," Gaius said, pointing to the door to the left, "leads to a toilet, there are clothes in the dresser, sleep and otherwise, the television picks up local channels but not much else. I can take off your shackles now, but if you leave this room, they will go on," he said and pulled a card out of his pocket. He waived it over the irons and they fell off his wrists but the one around his throat stayed where it was. "I have to lock you in here Merlin, for that I am sorry, but I will have someone bring something to eat down for you all right?" Merlin just nodded his head and entered the room, sitting on the bed and found that it was quite comfortable. "I will see you tomorrow Merlin," Gaius said, his voice full of sadness but didn't receive a response so he left, closing the door behind him and locking it with a code.

Merlin lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. He had been ripped from his home and mother six months ago, slavers had come through their small village and people were happy to point fingers, especially if they thought it would save them or a loved one. Once the slavers had taken him they had slapped him in irons and placed a collar around is throat, all designed to lock in his magic so he could not use it against them. He had been starved for his insolence, and even then it didn't stop his smart mouth, and it was a miracle that he wasn't dead because of it. What the slavers said tonight was untrue, he was not a virgin, but it was just that the men from tonight and the men who had him before weren't the ones who had taken that from him. Thinking back on what that man, Mr. Pendragon as he had been called, had said, when he had gained weight he would be put to work. He shuddered at the thought, he had heard of Uther and Arthur Pendragon, the so-called 'King and Prince' of Camelot. Though Camelot was a democracy, Uther owned almost the entire city, including the warlock slave trade and ran things behind the scenes, paying or killing off any who opposed him.

There was a knock on the door and a moment later, the door opened to a man who was holding a tray.

"Food," the man said, his voice rough and he set the tray down and then backed out, keeping an eye on Merlin as if he were going to attack him and closed the door. Merlin stayed where he was for a long moment until the smell of food made its way to him and his stomach gave a painful clench. He stood up and moved over and picked up the tray and took it back to the bed. He looked down and found a bowl of some kind of broth as well as a cup of water and half a slice of bread. His stomach gave a growl and clenched in pain again so he picked up his spoon and started eating slowly. He had learned his lesson two months after he had been captured he had escaped and found some bread that had been thrown away. He had been starved for so long that he started stuffing the food into his mouth, not realizing that his stomach would not be used to the food. He started on his way again but his stomach had rebelled and it caused him to throw everything back up. Being sick caused his captors to catch up with him and his back still attested to the whip used to teach him a lesson.

Once he was done, he sat back and looked around the room, it was bigger than he was used to, hell, he was used to a cage at the best of times, and here he was living in the lap of luxury. He stood and went to the bathroom, it was small but it had a toilet, a shower/bath combination and a sink. There was a towel rack to the right that held two dark blue towels that were soft to the touch. After a moment of staring at the tub, he found that he could not help himself and stripped off the clothes he was wearing and started the water. Once it was half full, he climbed in, nearly sobbing at how good it felt to have warm water covering him again. With the slavers he received a hose-down or a cold wet cloth to clean his body if he were lucky. He picked up a washcloth and soap he found on the side of the tub and proceeded to scrub himself almost raw and only when his body was red from scrubbing did he stop and sit back and relax. Reaching for the shampoo, he scrubbed his hair and then his scalp before dropping into the water, doing the same with the conditioner, another luxury he had rarely had in the last six months.

Finally, he climbed out of the tub reluctantly when the water started cooling, he wasn't sure if he was allowed to use more, and reached for one of the towels. He picked up the clothes he had worn but couldn't find anywhere to put them so he took them into his room and folded them atop the dresser. He opened the top drawer and found boxers, boxer-briefs, briefs, and socks he sighed in happiness; he didn't realize that he missed them until that moment. He had been forced to go commando for the last six months and as he pulled on boxers, he reveled in the feeling of support. He went to the next drawer and found sleep pants and tank tops, the third held shirts, all grey in color and the fourth held loose pants with a drawstring pull, again in grey. He slipped on a tank top and sleep pants and because his feet were cold, socks before he sat on the bed again. He yawned and lay back pulling the covers out from under him and then over his body, curling in on himself as he lay on the pillow. He hadn't felt anything like a real bed under him in so long, he rolled back and forth for a while before he found a comfortable position and fell into a deep sleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning when he awoke, he found another tray inside his room but did not remember waking up or seeing anyone when it was brought in. He picked up the tray and found a light porridge with milk and cinnamon, another piece of bread and what looked like apple juice. He sat on the bed again and started eating and was curious and picked up the remote, turning on the television. Gaius had been right, he only got local channels, not that he was familiar with the channels in Camelot but as he ate, he watched the news. Nothing exciting was happening, so he changed the channel to a morning show called 'Good Morning Camelot' with a perky blond woman and an older man. He placed the empty dishes back on the tray and then placed the tray near the door once he was done. When he heard the door unlock, he scrambled for the remote and quickly turned off the TV as he pressed himself against the wall.

"Good morning Merlin," Gaius' voice greeted him and he tried to relax though he wasn't sure he was successful. "I need you back in the examination room if you don't mind." Merlin stood and found himself, once again, shaking as he moved towards the older man. Once he reached him, Gaius pulled out the manacles from the day before and Merlin tried not to flinch from them. Gaius gave him an apologetic look before snapping them around his wrists and they adjusted so they were tight, just on the side of uncomfortable.

"I see you have found the clothing, do they fit you well enough?" he asked.

"They are fine sir," Merlin said and when they entered the double doors again, they found the room full of people, both slaves and non-slaves milling about.

"Over here," Gaius said, leading him across the room to a bed that was hidden by a drawn curtain and the older of the two patted the bed and Merlin climbed up. Gaius stepped around the curtain for a moment and when he came back he was holding a tray full of syringes and what looked like a microchip.

"These," Gaius said, picking up the first of four syringes, "are the start of your vitamins, after this, they will be in pill form, and a steroid, nothing too much, just something to help you pick back up." With that he took Merlin's left arm and tied it off before tapping the vein at his elbow and inserting the first needle. Merlin hissed quietly, his eyes fixed in front of him as the older man administered the medicines. "Tilt your head," the man said once he had set the last syringe back on the tray and picked up the microchip. Merlin did what was asked and he felt Gaius' hands on his neck, pressing against the collar that was lying there snuggly. "All done," Gaius said and Merlin moved his head back to where it had been resting barely noting the other man placing a different chip on the tray. "That chip will alert the security team if you try to leave the building without permission, it also has a tracking device that will help them keep an eye on you." Gaius said this as if it had been scripted, which it probably had, but there was an underlying warning to his tone that Merlin picked up quickly.

"Excuse me, Gaius?" a male voice called from outside the curtain and said man pulled the curtain back to show a young man, older than Merlin probably by six years standing there. He had dark hair that was cut short and dark brown eyes that held sadness as he looked at Merlin.

"Ah Lancelot, thank you for coming," Gaius said, standing back and letting the other man step past the ring of the curtain. "Merlin, this is Lancelot, he is to be your guard," the older man introduced the two and Lancelot nodded to him in greeting. "You are allowed to leave the safety of your rooms only under his watch. He will make sure that you are eating everything that we give you and taking your medicines." Gaius moved forward and waved his card over the manacles encompassing Merlin's hands causing them to fall away and Merlin resisted the urge to rub his wrists.

"These," Lancelot said, stepping forward with two circlets and reached for Merlin's hands, "do not link but I do have power over them to stop you from doing anything, they link to your collar as well." He snapped them around his wrists and they tightened, but just enough that they looked like bracelets and were not uncomfortable at all. Merlin doubted that they would stay that way if he were to try anything that Lancelot disapproved of. A cold fear set in his stomach at the thought of the other man forcing himself on him and Merlin not being able to do anything.

"He is not able to harm you in anyway," Gaius said, as if reading Merlin's thoughts, "he can't, you are a virgin and if that changes while in his care, well let's just say the consequences are dire." Merlin was not about to correct their assumption that he was a virgin and would try to keep their belief to that as long as he could, especially if it saved him, even if just for a while. "Well, it's nearly lunch time and you should get settled into your rooms, I'll see you in a couple of days Merlin," Gaius said, patting his knee and helped him down.

"Come on Merlin," Lancelot said, leading him towards another set of elevators that they had not arrived from last night. He pressed the down button and the doors slid open, once they were inside, he pressed the sixth floor button and they waited in silence as they descended. When the doors opened again it was to another long hallway that ended in a T. Lancelot led him down the hall and turned left at the T and then took a right at the next T and stopped at a door near the end of that hall that ended in a solid wall.

"These will be our rooms," he said, entering a code into the door panel and the door slid open to show a living area with a kitchen to the left and a small hallway to the right. "The bathroom is down on the left, your room is just beyond that and mine is across from yours." Merlin walked in to the living area and looked around, it had earth-toned, uncomfortable looking couches and chairs facing a large flat screen television. The kitchen was done in dark woods and stainless steel appliances, a small table with four chairs and an island with two stools. Ignoring the other man, Merlin walked down the hall and opened the door to the bathroom and found that it looked exactly like the one in the other room. He moved on to his bedroom, noticing the locking panel on the outside, and stepped inside. It looked very similar to the one he had been in this morning, other than the attached door to the bathroom and the TV were missing.

"Merlin," Lancelot called from the living area and the younger of the two sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before turning and making his way back. "We need to talk about the rules," the other man said and sat only after Merlin did, finding that the couches were as uncomfortable as they looked.

"As Gaius stated, you cannot leave these rooms without my accompanying you, your bonds will activate once you try to step beyond the doorway and you will not be able to move until I release you. Curfew is at ten o'clock p.m., you will be locked in your room at that point, you can do what you want other than leave. There are other slaves on this level, interaction between you and them is forbidden unless it is planned ahead and your guards are with you. Because of your…" he paused and looked over Merlin's body, but not in a creepy way, "condition, you will have a strict diet that you will have to follow. Medications will need to be taken with each meal, they will be delivered with your food and it is my job to make sure you take them. Meals are at seven a.m., noon and six p.m., there are no exceptions and they will be delivered here to us."

"Why the kitchen then?" Merlin asked and Lancelot looked over at the room and smiled sardonically.

"When you are better and looking like you won't fall over if you are standing for too long, there is a store you can purchase food at that you can keep here and make yourself."

"Why?" Merlin asked and continued when the other man looked at him questioningly, "why are there rooms, televisions, food, why are we treated like human beings?"

"Slavers are scum," Lancelot spat and Merlin blinked, "you'll find that most… owners treat their slaves well. In Camelot's case, you are their money maker's and so they treat you with as much dignity as they can."

"Dignity, right," Merlin snorted and looked towards the television again. He tensed when they heard a knock on the door a few minutes later and Lancelot stood to answer.

"Hungry?" he asked, walking back in carrying a tray, another man following him with another tray in his arms. He placed the tray on the counter and turned and left, not even looking at Merlin as he went. Merlin stood slowly and felt fatigued as he made his way over and sat down at the table where the other man had laid out their food. There was another bowl of soup this one had chunks of meat and potatoes and some crackers as well as water, this time it included a carafe of water to refill their glasses from. Half ways through his soup, his eyelids were drooping and he was having a hard time not falling asleep.

"All right," Lancelot said as he saw Merlin's head droop and bob back up a moment later for the third time, "why don't you take a nap?"

"Ok," Merlin said and stood nearly falling down, his body was not used to this much movement, but Lancelot was at his side in a moment. The other man didn't say anything but led him to his room and laid him down on the bed.

"You won't lock me in?" Merlin asked, pulling at the covers and Lancelot blinked at him, his heart clenching for the younger man.

"Not until tonight," he said gently and left the room, turning off the light as he went.

Sometime later, Merlin awoke, lying on his side that faced the wall and he stared at it, he could almost pretend that he was home, that his mother was in the next room. He closed his eyes tightly before rolling onto his back and taking a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he turned towards the small desk next to the bed to see a digital clock there which read six-thirty-seven. He sat up and wondered about dinner, Lancelot had said 'no exceptions' but had obviously let him sleep past the allotted time. Standing, he stretched and made his way towards the door and paused, worrying that the door was locked but as he stepped closer it slid open and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're awake," Lancelot said, standing from where he was sitting and watching TV, switching the box off as he went.

"So it would seem," Merlin said, still standing the doorway that led into the family room, "did I sleep through dinner?"

"No," Lancelot said, walking to the table where two trays sat and uncovered both, "I saved yours for you."

"I thought you said six p.m., no exceptions," Merlin said, walking into the room and to the table where he sat cautiously.

"It was a speech," Lancelot said, shrugging his shoulders and picking up the plates and taking them to the microwave to warm them. "I have to give it to all of my charges," he said from across the room.

"Have you had many?" Merlin asked quietly after a moment of silence and heard the other man sigh but was quiet beyond that until he was sitting across from Merlin, their plates in front of them.

"No," the other man said quietly and picked up his fork, "not many." They ate in silence, Merlin found it hard to finish all of it and the other man pretended not to notice. When they were done, Lancelot picked up the plates and set them on the stacked trays on a desk near the door and turned back.

"Do you want to watch TV?" he asked and Merlin looked at the uncomfortable couches and the television and shrugged, following the older man to the other room and sat as he turned the TV on. They watched several shows, none that Merlin paid attention to, mostly dozing or staring off into space, lost in his own thoughts and memories.

"Merlin," a hand on his shoulder had him sitting up in a slight panic to find Lancelot staring at him in apology and he ran a hand over his face. "It's five minutes to ten," the other man said gently and Merlin closed his eyes and nodded. He stood and followed Lancelot to his room and stepped inside, not turning to look as the other bid him good night. He listened to the door slide shut then the lock activating and bit his lip.

He was still in a cage, maybe one without bars and the freezing cold, but he was still locked in a place he did not want to be and had no way out.

The next morning he awoke to the door being unlocked and opening but when he looked, Lancelot was gone so he climbed to his feet, grabbed some clothes from the dresser and headed into the bathroom. He showered quickly and dressed before heading into the living area to find the other man reading what looked like a newspaper.

"Morning," the other man called, not looking up from the paper but he did push a tray across the table when Merlin sat and looked down. The tray had a bowl of oatmeal, a banana, a glass of milk and a small pile of pills. "Take the pills after you eat," Lance warned, folding down the edge of the paper to eye Merlin who nodded and picked up his spoon.

"Do I ever get a say in what I eat?" Merlin asked after taking a bite of bland oatmeal.

"Some, it is a bit difficult as you are on a strict diet to get your weight up and to get you used to eating again," Lancelot said, shrugging.

"Is there any sugar or something to make this taste better?" he asked, he really didn't like oatmeal and bland oatmeal was the worst.

"Let me check," Lancelot said, standing and checking the cupboards and fridge, coming back with a stick of butter and a small container of brown sugar. "Will this work?"

"Yes, thank you," Merlin said, taking the knife next to his bowl and cutting of a small slab of butter and then pouring brown sugar on top before mixing it together.

"Better?" Lancelot asked a small grin on his face as he watched Merlin.

"No, not really, I really don't like oatmeal," he said, shrugging but continued to eat, he didn't want to be in trouble with the older man, especially with that scowl on his face.

"I'll let them know, they should have asked," Lancelot said, shaking his head. "You may not get too much of a say, but there might be something they can do for you. Is there anything you do like? I can let the kitchens know, that way you don't have to eat that crap." Merlin looked up in surprise and blinked, no one, in the last six months, had given a crap what he liked; he was forced to eat whatever he was given or starve. Of course that was when he was given food at all, which was rare, attested by the state his body was in.

"Eggs, toast, I really like French toast, waffles," he said quietly, pushing the oatmeal around in his bowl.

"Is that all?" the older man asked and Merlin shrugged and Lancelot sighed and lay the paper down on the table. "Merlin, you can trust me," he said quietly and Merlin lifted his head to stare incredulously. "I'm here to protect you, for as long as you are with Camelot, I'm going to guard you against anything that might hurt you, including yourself. I would really like to be your friend," he said quietly and Merlin looked down at his bowl but didn't respond. "Keep eating," the other man said, not unkindly and Merlin picked up the spoon.

"Do you think you are up for a field trip?" Lancelot asked as soon as he was done and had taken his pills.

"To where?" Merlin asked, even though he had only been here a day and knew he was trapped, he felt safe in these rooms.

"No where too far, I don't want to exhaust you, just down the hallway, there are a few places I want to show you." Merlin contemplated that, though he had just thought that he wanted to stay, he realized that now that he had the option, he wanted out.

"Ok," he said and Lancelot smiled before leading the way to the door and entering a code causing the door to slide open. Once outside of their rooms, they headed back the way they had come the day before and instead of going left at the T they kept going to the end. The hallway was lined by doors, each had a keypad and Merlin figured that they were all apartments like his but didn't ask. At the end of the hall there was a door built into the frame that was larger than most and Lancelot keyed in a code and the door slid open.

Inside was a large gym, half of the floor was covered in blue mats, the other half had exercise equipment from treadmills to free weights and half of them were occupied. Though Merlin had never been a person inclined to work out, he could tell that the equipment was state of the art and well maintained.

"You don't expect me to work out do you?" he asked as Lancelot led them around the mats towards the equipment and the other man laughed.

"No Merlin, I don't just yet," he said, smiling at him over his shoulder. "When you're up to speed, you'll spend a few hours in here a day, getting healthy." Merlin scowled at that, he was still disinclined to work out, he hated running and was horrible at it. "Gwaine!" Lancelot called and Merlin looked up to see a larger man standing near a treadmill where a young woman with darker skin and long dark hair was running, a collar around her throat.

"Lance," the other man said, not taking his eyes off of the girl, "this your new charge?" he asked, again not even looking at the two of them.

"This is Merlin," Lancelot agreed and pushed Merlin to a bench near the machines before getting him a bottle of water

"All right Gwen, take it down," Gwaine said and the girl, Gwen, reached forward and the treadmill slowed though it didn't stop completely.

"How is Elyan?" Lancelot asked quietly, leaning against another treadmill and Merlin watched as Gwaine's jaw clenched, his eyes turned angry and he shrunk back a bit.

"He'll be in the infirmary for another couple of days," he said through clenched teeth and Merlin could almost feel the anger rolling off of the other man. Gwaine pulled back when Gwen was done and the girl climbed off of the machine, sparing Merlin a curious glance, but didn't say anything as she passed.

"Hear you nearly killed the guy," Lancelot said nonchalantly and Gwaine threw him a dirty look.

"Do you blame me?" he snarled and Merlin fought fear that settled in his stomach, "the guy nearly killed Elyan!" he nearly shouted and Merlin started to shake.

"Gwaine," a quiet voice said and both men turned to Gwen who had her hand on his arm and she tilted her head towards Merlin who had pulled his legs up on the bench and wrapped his arms around his knees.

"Shit," Gwaine said quietly and took a deep breath while closing his eyes. "Sorry kid," he said in a much softer tone, looking at Merlin who looked back with wide eyes before he nodded.

"May I?" Gwen asked, looking at both Lancelot and Gwaine who nodded so she made her way towards Merlin and sat down, the two men moved further away but stayed close enough to intervene if needed. She sat next to Merlin, keeping a bit of space between them and smiled at him when he turned his head to look at her. "I'm Gwen," she said.

"Merlin," was the quiet response after a long moment, long enough for Gwen to think that he wouldn't respond at all.

"That's an odd name," she said bluntly and Merlin's eyes widened and she looked at him in horror. "Not that that's a bad thing," she cried, "I'm sure there are a lot of Merlin's in the world, just because you're the first I've ever met doesn't mean that there aren't others. I actually like Merlin, it's unique, I mean, Gwen isn't unique at all, it's actually short for Guinevere, that's weird right?" she babbled, stopping only when Merlin placed a hand on her arm and she turned to find him smiling.

"It's nice to meet you Guinevere," he said quietly and she smiled back at him, laughing a bit as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Just Gwen is fine," she replied and Merlin pulled his hand back, "and don't worry about Gwaine," she said, looking towards their guards who were watching them while they talked. "He's nothing but a big softy," she said, a note of fondness in her voice.

"Hey!" Gwaine cried in protest and Merlin flinched slightly.

"He's just worried about Elyan," she went on as if the man in question hadn't said anything, "he's another of his charges and he was injured last night by a client."

"Injured?" was asked in a small voice and Merlin seemed to calm as long as he pretended that the other two men weren't there. Gwen sighed and tucked her legs under her, staring across the room towards the other wall that held mirrors.

"Sometimes," she said after a moment, "the client's get the idea that they can hurt one of us, that's why we have guards like Gwaine and Lance, to protect us."

"Will he be all right?" Merlin asked and Gwen smiled at him reassuringly.

"I believe he will be, Gwaine was able to stop the man before he hurt Elyan too badly." They were quiet for a long minute before Lancelot stepped forward.

"We should get back," he said, smiling at Merlin who had set his feet back on the ground and had taken a more relaxed pose.

"You need a shower and have to meet Morgana in an hour Gwen," Gwaine said from near the treadmill and the girl stood.

"It was very nice to meet you Merlin," she said and smiled before turning to follow her guard.

"You too Guinevere," he called out and she shot him a smile over her shoulder and he noticed that when she passed Lancelot, she placed a hand on his arm that lingered for a second before moving on.

"Ready?" Lancelot asked, looking after both Gwen and Gwaine in a manner that made Merlin wonder but he didn't ask, figuring it wasn't his business.

"Sure," he said, standing and Lancelot left the gym and led the way through the hall, turning right at the T and then down another hall that was halfway down to another door that was large and made of wood. There was an old brass handle that required turning, instead of the updated doors that slid open at a touch and opened inward on old oiled hinges.

"This," Lancelot said, leading the way in, "is the library." Merlin stepped in and stared, all around him were shelves upon shelves of old books, paperback and hardback books filled with real paper. His mother had owned an old book shop in Ealdor and because of that he loved to read, most things these days were digital and an actual paper book was rare. His mother had sold the digital books but had also had a special room for her rare collection of paper books that she refused to sell. Merlin moved past the other man as he walked in and ran a hand over the spines of several leather-bound books near the door.

"Can I?" he asked, looking back at Lancelot who was smiling.

"Of course, I wouldn't have brought you in here without letting you take something. I figure you can read at night if you don't want to sleep once you're locked in." With that permission, Merlin moved into the room and followed the names, all alphabetical, to find his favorite authors. Two hours later, Merlin had made three stacks of at least fifteen books each on a nearby table where Lancelot sat and watched, amused.

"I'm not sure you can take all of these at once," he said as Merlin came back with a book of Shakespeare's sonnets.

"I know," Merlin said, blushing a bit as he turned back, "I'm just making a list of what I want," he said, his voice becoming muffled as he moved back among the shelves.

"Do you need a pad to write these down on?" Lancelot asked as Merlin again reappeared with another two books.

"No, I keep it all up here," Merlin said, pointing to his head and Lancelot's eyes grew wide.

"You will remember all of these?" he asked, waving a hand at the stacks.

"Yes, eidetic memory," Merlin said and proceeded to pick out five books. "Would taking these be ok?"

"That should be fine," Lancelot said and stood, picking up several books to help put them away. "Eidetic memory huh?" he asked as they made their way back towards their rooms, as it was nearly lunch time. "Must come in handy to remember everything."

"Not always, there are things that I wish I could forget," Merlin replied, his head down and Lancelot felt like he could kick himself.

"Lets head back and have lunch," he said and they left the room and headed towards their rooms, carrying most of the books for the other man. Merlin walked next to him, his nose burried in one of his books, barely looking where he was going.

When they reached their rooms, Lancelot entered the code into the door and led the way in, finding lunch waiting for them on the counter.

"Hungry?" he asked as he moved the food from the counter to the table and spread out the food.

"A little," Merlin said, sitting down and pulling a plate vegetables and a bowl of soup towards him.

"Don't forget these," Lancelot said, handing him a small cup of pills.

"Thanks," Merlin said and waited for Lancelot to take the first bite of his own food before he started eating.

The rest of the day Merlin spent his time reading one of his many books while Lancelot watched TV.

"Merlin," Lancelot said near ten o'clock and Merlin, who had not been paying much attention to his book, mostly watching the clock, looked up.

"I know," he said, standing and walking down the hallway, Lancelot following him.

"Goodnight," Merlin said and walked into his room.

"Night," Lancelot said and closed the door before locking the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin gets sick and Gaius tries to find a way to fix him and I've thrown in a new (to this story anyway, pretty big character to the show) character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two, I plan to keep going with this story, sorry I didn't make it clear that this wasn't a one chapter deal. Anyway let me know what you think. Sorry about the flashback thing, but it's important, promise.

Merlin snuffled and drew the blankets close around his shoulders, staring at the TV through bleary eyes, feeling horrible all around. A few days ago he had started to feel sick and with his condition he had been rushed to Gaius. He had been there for a little over a month before coming down with a cold. He had started to gain back some of his weight, Gaius had been pleased with his progress but they were now worried that he had become sick.

“Come on kid,” Lancelot said, helping him to his feet at eight o'clock, he was going to bed early due to his health and didn't put up any protest, feeling almost too tired to make it to his room.

“Night Lancelot,” Merlin said as he walked into his room and collapsed onto his bed, pulling the covers over the extra blanket he had around his shoulders.

Lance stood in the doorway and watched him, worried about the young man in front of him. If he continued to be sick, it could kill him, his body's immune system had been knocked down with his weight problem. Turning, he closed the door but didn't lock it so he could have quick access to Merlin if he needed and returned to the front room, turning on the monitor that ran throughout the apartment, both video and audio that led into Merlin's room. At ten o'clock, Lance made it into his room and laid down, making sure the monitor in his room was on before closing his eyes.

Two hours later, he was awakened by the sound of retching and he sat up in bed, cursing under his breath as he threw the blankets back and rushed across the hall. He opened the door and found Merlin leaning over the side of the bed, throwing up everything he had eaten that day, as little as that was.

“Merlin,” Lance said, rushing to his side, bringing a bucket with him to catch what he could.

“I'm sorry,” Merlin said miserably and Lance thought he heard him wrong until the younger man repeated himself.

“Merlin, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Lance admonished but the younger man kept saying it over and over again. Lance reached for Merlin's forehead and pulled back when he felt the skin burning and cursed again. Standing, he made his way to the wall by the door to a communication console and called Gaius and explained the situation. Once he was done, he heard the other man cursing colorfully, something that he didn't hear often, before the line was disconnected. Lance left the room briefly and grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and soaked it with cold water and reentered the room. Merlin was now leaning against the wall, looking pale and an arm over his stomach, breathing heavily. Lance moved into the room and placed the washcloth on the boy's forehead and Merlin sighed, cracking open his eyes slightly.

“I'm sorry,” he said again, his voice strained and rough.

“Merlin,” Lance admonished quietly, shaking his head, “there is absolutely no reason to be sorry, you're sick, it happens.” Merlin sighed and closed his eyes and leaned his head back but a moment later, his eyes shot open and reached for the bucket which Lance handed him. Lance had to turn away as Merlin retched again, this time nothing came out, his stomach empty.

“Lance?” Gaius' voice called and Lance turned towards the doorway to see the older physician and two orderlies making their way into the room, a stretcher outside the door. 

Lance stood and made way for Gaius as he sat down in his place, sticking a thermometer in Merlin's mouth. When the thermometer beeped, Gaius pulled it out of Merlin's mouth and cursed again.

“One hundred and five,” he said and stood, motioning to the orderlies who moved forward and picked up Merlin gently and placed him on the gurney and headed towards the door, Gaius and Lance following. They made their way to the elevator and to the infirmary in minutes, Gaius trying to keep Merlin awake who was refusing. Once in the infirmary, they moved Merlin to a private room and set him up with oxygen as he started having problems breathing.

“He's dehydrated, have you had him drinking nothing but water?” Gaius demanded of Lance and he bristled a bit, “sorry Lance, I know you know how to do your job.” Gaius had one of the nurses set up an IV and continued to try to keep Merlin awake.

“Merlin,” Gaius said, tapping Merlin's flushed cheek and the younger man jumped a bit and his eyes opened in slits. “You need to stay awake my boy,” Gaius said, his voice stern.

“'m tired,” Merlin mumbled, his eyes slipping closed again and Gaius took a deep breath and Lance could see how worried he was.

“Merlin,” he called again, but received no response, “Merlin!” he said louder, near the younger man's ear but received no response and Lance felt fear settle in his stomach. “I need a heart monitor,” Gaius said, turning but found a nurse waiting for his demand and he quickly attached it to Merlin's pointer finger. “We need to get his temperature down,” he said pulling another thermometer out of his Merlin's mouth which read 106. They pulled in ice packs and cool blankets and covered Merlin with them.

“What can I do Gaius?” Lance asked, standing near the doorway, feeling useless as he watched his young charge fight for his life.

“There's nothing right now Lance,” Gaius said, giving him a apologetic smile over his shoulder.

Twenty minutes later, Merlin's temperature had dropped two degrees but he was still unconscious and Gaius was afraid that he was slipping into a coma.

Lance was sitting next to Merlin's bed and watched him closely, ready to call out for Gaius if anything changed, good or bad. They had incubated Merlin when his breathing became more and more difficult and Gaius was afraid of a collapsed lung.

“You've got to fight this Merlin,” Lance said fiercely, touching the younger man's hand briefly, “you're better than a measly cold, you're stronger than this.” Over the month and a half that Merlin had been his charge, he had come to care for him, he was smart and funny, a bit clumsy but he was a good kid.

“Lance why don't you get some sleep?” Gaius asked, entering the room and laying a hand on his shoulder.

“I think I'll stay here,” Lance said, “I have nothing else to do, my charge is here, that's where I'm going to be.”

“I thought you'd say that,” Gaius said and moved aside when a nurse brought in a cot, “you can sleep on this.”

“Thank you Gaius,” Lance said, glancing at the cot briefly before turning his gaze back to the young man on the bed.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback-------------------------------------------------------------------

Merlin was back in the camps, walking among the many warlocks and witches that were shoved into cloth tents, ten to a tent built for no more than five, wandering aimlessly when a voice called out.

“Ah, young Merlin, finally,” a male voice called and he turned to see an old man, so thin he could see almost every bone in his body, long blonde, scraggly hair hanging down his back. His eyes were sunken and dark, most of his teeth missing, a collar around his neck and circles around his wrists, jiggling as he stoked a pathetic fire.

“Do I know you?” Merlin asked, eying the man before him and the man laughed heartily.

“Not yet young warlock, but you will,” he said and waved a hand at the log across the fire from him, “please, join me.”

“I don't know,” Merlin said wearily and the man laughed again.

“I promise no harm will come to you, please join me,” the man said and Merlin sat slowly, keeping on the other side of the fire. “My name is Kilgarrah, let this old man sit and talk to a young one for a while.”

“How did you know my name?” Merlin asked.

“I know many things Merlin,” Kilgarrah said, “I have seen many things that happened and many that will happen.”

“You're a seer,” Merlin pointed out and Kilgarrah nodded his head once.

“I am, and I have been waiting for you for a long time, I thought we would have met before now, but it was not meant to be. How small you are for such a great destiny,” the older man said, staring at Merlin, looking over Merlin's form that was much slimmer than it had been two months ago.

“I don't understand,” Merlin said, shaking his head.

“You will,” Kilgarrah said and kicked sand over his fire, putting it out, plunging their little corner into darkness.

“What did you do that for?” Merlin asked but didn't receive a response. “Hello?” he called but again nothing. A guard walked by a moment later with a torch and Merlin saw that the log across from him was empty and he thought he could hear the laughter of the older man, echoing around him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------End Flashback--------------------------------------------------------------------

Merlin had been in the infirmary for two days having slipped into a coma after the first night, they had been able to bring his temperature down to 101 but it was refusing to lower any more than that. Lance hadn't left longer than a few minutes at a time, when he did it was either to get food, to change clothes or to shower and nothing Gaius or anyone could say would change his mind.

“101,” Gaius said, taking Merlin's temperature, “it's not going down,” he said, rubbing his forehead before shaking his head.

“What is this?” Lancelot asked, from what he could understand, no one knew what was happening with the young man. They were scratching their heads at the fact that Merlin was unresponsive to treatment, and they were all worried that he wouldn't awaken.

“I have an idea,” Gaius said, looking around as if afraid to be heard.

“You think it's magic,” Lancelot said matter-of-factly, receiving a nod in response.

“I've heard of this happening, when a warlock's magic has been suppressed for so long, it turns inwards and attacks the body. With Merlin's immune system so damaged with how he has been treated, this collar is doing more harm than good.” 

“What can be done?” Lancelot asked and Gaius shook his head again.

“Wait, there is only two ways this can go, either his magic will continue to attack and kill him or he will be able to fight it off,” the physician said and placed a hand on Lancelot's shoulder before leaving.

 

After leaving Merlin's room, Gaius made his way through the infirmary and to the elevator and headed to the top floor of the building above and to Uther Pendragon's office. He knocked on the open doorway and entered when he was bid to.

“Ah Gaius,” Uther said, nodding to him when he walked in, “Arthur and I were just finishing dinner.” Gaius nodded to Arthur Pendragon who was sitting across from his father eating Chinese with chopsticks.

“I came to give you an update on Merlin Emrys' condition as you asked,” Gaius said standing in front of both father and son.

“And?” Uther asked, wiping his mouth before he set his food aside and sat back, folding his hands over his stomach.

“There is no change,” Gaius replied, “his temperature is still at 101 and not dropping, no matter what we do.” There was a long silence as Uther considered the situation before him, shooting a look at his son who continued to eat.

“How much is he costing us to keep him in the infirmary?” he asked and Arthur set his food aside and wiped his mouth.

“At least one hundred dollars a day,” he said, pulling a folder to him and glancing at the paper inside briefly.

“Sir,” Gaius said feeling appalled, “you're honestly not suggesting what I think you're suggesting.” Uther looked away from his son to Gaius with a stern look.

“Even if he survives, he's in no condition to be put to work, so not only are we paying for his medical care which is more than tripled while he is in the infirmary, we are making no money from him if he gets out.”

“Sir,” Giaus said, trying to keep his anger in check, “he is a human being, he is sick and once he is well and up to where he needs to be to be put to work, he will pay you back.” There was a long silence where Uther stared at the physician with an unreadable look.

“He is a warlock,” he said eventually, “they are not human, they are unnatural beings that need to be controlled.” Gaius wanted to shake his head, he was probably one of the only people who knew why Uther hated magic so much, but it made him sad at how warlocks and witches were treated. “He has two more days,” Uther said with finality, an obvious dismissal and Gaius turned and left without another word.

He made his way back down to the infirmary and stood outside Merlin's room and watched the young man, trying to figure out how to save him.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------Flashback----------------------------------------------------------------------

The next time Merlin saw Kilgarrah, it was three days later and he was standing in line to receive his small ration of food for the day. The older man was standing at the end of the line, watching him and people moved around him as if he wasn't there. Merlin kept his head down and moved away from the line without getting all of his food and moved towards the small grove of trees he ate at every day.

“Young Merlin,” Kilgarrah's voice said and Merlin sighed before he turned to find the man standing there, smiling.

“Kilgarrah,” he said, and the man sat down without being invited, his hands empty.

“You didn't get your full ration,” Kilgarrah said, nodding his head at Merlin's meager food and Merlin shrugged his shoulders.

“I'm not that hungry,” Merlin lied and Kilgarrah chuckled.

“Merlin, you need to keep your strength up, we're going to need you.” Merlin took a bite of his bread and took a sip of water.

“Who is we?” he asked, hunching his shoulders against the biting wind, the beginning of winter on the horizon and he had given his coat to a young girl who didn't have one.

“Our people,” Kilgarrah said, sweeping his hand out encompassing the entire camp and Merlin shook his head.

“I'm trying to eat,” Merlin said, trying to ignore the man in front of him.

“Can you create fire?” Kilgarrah asked and Merlin looked up at him, confused, his eyes narrowed, “right here and now?”

“Of course not, I'm restricted by this,” Merlin said, pointing to his collar, “I can't do magic, it's not possible.”

“Isn't it?” Kilgarrah asked before smiling and standing, “it may not be as impossible as it seems.” With that, he walked away and Merlin stayed staring at the ground in front of him, thinking that the man had to be crazy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaius finds a cure and finds out something extraordinary about Merlin and I drag Arthur more into the story. Oh, and the angst! I like angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry these are getting shorter, I needed to get this out, it was gnawing at me until I did. I'm going to try to get back to long chapters, promise, so the next one will probably take a while to achieve that goal.

Early the next morning, Gaius made his way towards Merlin's room to check on him and found someone unexpected standing outside.

“Arthur?” he asked, walking up to the younger blond man and stopped by his side, both looking in through the large window that showed Merlin's prone form. “What do I owe this pleasure?” Arthur snorted and glanced at the old physician out of the corner of his eye.

“It's no pleasure of yours or mine Gaius,” he said and nodded his head towards Merlin, “how is he?” Gaius sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead, a headache starting behind his eyes and making its way forward.

“No change, has your father made any change to his decision?”

“No,” Arthur replied, “he asked me to come down and check on things, he was too busy to make his rounds this week.”

“Do you have any questions?” Gaius asked and the younger man shook his head.

“Everything looks like it is in order, as always,” Arthur said before he nodded his head in a farewell and left.

“What was Arthur Pendragon doing down here?” Lancelot asked once Gaius had stepped into the room.

“He was doing the rounds, Uther was unable it seems,” Gaius replied and moved to take Merlin's temperature which was still a steady 101.

“No interrogation like his father?” Lance asked and Gaius shot him an amused look.

“No, the Arthur is much nicer than Uther,” Gaius said, turning to the saline drip to make sure everything was as it should be. Nodding to Lance he moved to leave the room when a thought struck him and he stopped a foot from the door.

“Gaius?” Lance asked, noticing that the older man had frozen, “what is it?”

“Interrogation,” Gaius said, mostly to himself.

“What?” Lance asked confused and sat back when Gaius spun around, his eyes wide.

“There are interrogation rooms that have not been used in years,” the older man said again almost to himself.

“What is your point?” Lance asked watching Gaius as he strode further into the room and to the other side of Merlin's bed.

“Those rooms were used to interrogate witches and warlocks, magic could be used but it was stopped before it could do any damage,” Gaius said and Lance's eyes widened in understanding.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Merlin stared down at the small pile of sticks in front of him in frustration, he had been trying to light them with magic that he supposedly had access to but nothing was happening. He had snuck away at the first possible chance he had and had made his way into the forest that surrounded their camp. When he was sure that he would not be seen, he gathered the pile of sticks and was now trying to light them as Kilgarrah had said he could. 

“Crazy old fool,” Merlin said, sitting heavily on the floor of the forest, putting his head in his hands. The sound of crackling wood reached his ears moments later and he found light dancing through his fingers and lowered his hands slowly, there in front of him the pile of wood was on fire.

“Ha!” Merlin cried, jumping to his feet and doing a small dance in victory

“Do you see now young Merlin?” a voice said from behind him and Merlin cursed and spun around, nearly falling into the fire.

“Don't do that!” he cried, quickly dousing the fire with a word and Kilgarrah smiled at him.

“How is this possible?” Merlin asked.

“You are a very powerful warlock Merlin, the strongest I have ever encountered, you will save us all.”\

“I don't understand,” Merlin said, shaking his head.

“You will, in time,” the old man said and turned to walk away.

“Wait!” Merlin called and went to follow him but as he stepped forward, the man's image seemed to shimmer before disappearing completely. “Kilgarrah?” he called, making his way into the camp but the man was no where to be seen. He asked the everyone in the camp if they had seen him, but no one seemed to know who he was talking about, no one seemed to remember seeing the old man at all.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Near two o'clock in the morning, Gaius and Lancelot wheeled Merlin into one of the large interrogation rooms ten levels below the infirmary. It was large and the walls made of cement, one heavy door the only way out and a observatory window across from the door. In the middle of the room, there was a large bed with restraints made to hold the warlock or witch down.

They moved Merlin into the room and placed him on the bed and strapped him down lightly, not enough to restrain him fully but enough that he couldn't hurt himself or them. Once they were done, Gaius moved forward and reached for the collar around Merlin's neck.

“Is that wise Gaius?” Lancelot asked, moving forward as if to stop him.

“It is, I am not planning to remove it, only to loosen it so his magic can release itself, if that is the problem, he will be well by the morning.” Lance stood near the door and watched the man loosen the collar and stood back. “We should probably head into the next room,” Gaius said and led the way out and into the small observation room.

“This won't set off any alarms?” Lance asked and the older man shook his head.

“I removed the chip,” he said as if it were a day to day thing, like it wasn't against the law to do so and Lance felt torn.

“Gaius,” he started but the older physician shook his head.

“I know how the blasted things work so I can remove them without incident, do not worry.” Lance started to open his mouth but Gaius held up a hand to stop him, “watch,” he said and pointed through the window at Merlin.

Lance turned and saw what looked like light blue sparks sparking out of the collar as if testing the air before more and more poured out, running over Merlin's skin. The sparks turned to what looked like bolts of electricity, running from the collar down his arms to his fingertips and down his chest to his toes. The bolts changed colors with every charge and ran up and down Merlin's body faster and faster until they seemed to form a sort of film, covering him from head to toe. When they finally stopped, a bright multi-colored layer of magic covered Merlin from the neck down.

“What's happening?” Lance asked quietly but Gaius shushed him and they watched as Merlin's eyes shot open, and even from five feet away where they were standing, they could see his eyes glowing gold. His eyes closed after a minute and the film shrunk until it covered his body tightly and then slowly disappeared into his body.  
Both men waited for five minutes but Merlin did not move and so they entered the room cautiously, Gaius pulling out his thermometer as he stepped up to Merlin's side.  
“99,” he said, sighing deeply and reached forward to tighten the collar.

“He'll be all right?” Lance asked anxiously.

“Yes, his temperature is already dropping, he should be back to normal by the morning,” the older man said and placed the chip back into the collar. “Let's get him back upstairs.” Both men moved forward but Lance stopped.

“Gaius,” he said and the other man could hear the confusion and weariness, “is the collar working?”

“Yes,” the physician said, eying the younger man.

“Then explain this,” Lance said and held up Merlin's hand which held an orb that was purely magic, with white and blue swirling inside giving off light.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Gaius walked into Merlin's room and was surprised to find Lancelot missing from the room but Merlin was sitting up in bed and eating breakfast.

“It is good to see you awake Merlin,” he said, smiling at the younger man. Merlin was still looking thin and a bit worse for wear but he had color back in his cheeks, color that wasn't there from fever.

“How long was I out?” Merlin asked, taking another bite of his applesauce.

“Four days,” Gaius said, taking his temperature and was relieved to find it at normal levels, he checked the boys eyes and throat and found all well.

“Where is Lance?” Merlin asked as Gaius wrote down the information in his chart.

“Has he been here at all this morning?” Gaius asked, knowing that Lance was hiding, after finding that Merlin could do magic even with the collar, he had become scarce. 

“No,” Merlin said, shaking his head.

“Well I'm sure he'll stop by later, as long as you are feeling better, you can return to your rooms tomorrow afternoon.” With that, Gaius left the room and found Arthur once again standing outside, watching Merlin.

“He's better,” Arthur said, nodding to Merlin's form, “remarkable,” he said and Gaius felt a spike of fear run through him. He had taken every precaution, he had disconnected the cameras recording the room they had used, had made sure that all of the nurses were busy elsewhere, he was sure he had been so careful.

“He is a remarkable young man,” Gaius said, proud that his voice did not waiver.

“Indeed,” Arthur said after a long, tense moment. “Did you see this?” the younger man asked, handing Gaius a folder and the older man took it and quickly read over the contents, paling at what he read.

“How did I not see this?” he asked, speaking more to himself than the man next to him.

“Do not blame yourself, it must have been overlooked by many, slavers know not to bring a carrier to us, Valiant must not have known either.”

“Does your father know?” Gaius asked and Arthur shook his head.

“Not yet, I was on my way to take that to him when I thought I would stop and see how he was doing.”

“Arthur, may I ask you to keep this from him, at least for now?” Gaius asked and Arthur looked at him with an eyebrow raised. The Pendragon's did not employ carriers, men who were able to bear children, they were too much trouble. There were other facilities that did, offered both men and women to carry children for those who couldn't. Those witches and warlocks were treated horribly though and used until they couldn't be used any more.

“And how long do you expect me to do that,” Arthur asked, “once he is well we will not be able to put him to work, even if we did, how would we explain it to my father when he falls pregnant?”

“Let me tell him then, give me some time to find a way to keep him here,” Gaius said, almost pleading, now that he knew Merlin could do magic, even with the collar, he felt very protective of the boy.

“I will give you a week,” Arthur said, turning and leaving. Gaius sighed and walked to his office and placed the folder in his desk, locking it as he went to finish his rounds.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Merlin entered his rooms, Lance close behind and collapsed on the couch and closed his eyes, though he was better, being sick had made him feel as he did when he first arrived. He had noticed Lancelot's cold shoulder and general quietness that was so rare with the other man. Before he had gotten sick, Lance had never shut up. Now though, now he had barely said a word to Merlin since picking him up from the infirmary ten minutes ago. He hadn't seen Lance at all the day before, though Gaius and every nurse he saw said that the other man hadn't left his side since he had become sick. Gaius refused to tell what had cured him in the end but the way Lance was reacting to him and the way that Gaius looked at him, he knew that it had something to do with magic.

“Hungry?” Lance's voice asked, making him jump.

“No, thank you,” Merlin replied and watched as Lance stood across the room, as if trying not to fidget. “I think I'll lay down,” Merlin said standing, swaying a bit before standing straight, surprised and a bit hurt when Lance didn't rush to help him.

“All right, I'll come get you when dinner arrives,” Lance said and turned away as Merlin made his way down the hall to his room. Merlin collapsed onto his bed and closed his eyes against tears that threatened to fall, feeling that he had lost his only friend and ally in this place.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, I'm going to say that this might be the proudest thing I've ever written, it only took me... way too long to write, I've actually been working on this chapter for over a month and now it's finished, yay! Warning : this does elude to an attempted rape, not graphic and it doesn't really talk about it, I'll probably go further into what happened in the next chapter. Also, this goes back and forth between the current time and what happened three days before, if that confuses you, I'll try to fix it but I have tried to section it out, just let me know. Thank you to those that have reviewed, and to those that have just read or kudos this story, I'm glad it's being read at least.

On with the chapter, thank you for reading.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Merlin ran for the front door, he knew that it was locked, but he didn't care, if he had to, he would use his magic and blast his way out, he was sure he was dead anyway. As he neared the door, it slid open and he felt relief until a body filled it and he tried to stop but slammed into it full force. Falling to the ground, Merlin scrambled backwards away from the man above him, pressing himself against the wall behind him as the man squatted down.

"Merlin?" Lance asked, worried eyes taking in the ripped shirt, mussed hair, bruising eye and split lip of the young man in front of him as he seemed to cower away.

"He's dead, oh Gods he's dead," Merlin said, wrapping his arms around his head as if to ward off any blows and Lance's eyes widened.

"Who Merlin?" he asked, reaching out but Merlin flinched away.

"Steffan," Merlin sobbed.  
________________________________________________________________________________ 

Three Days Before

Merlin awoke to the sound of the door opening like it did every morning he had been there, and as usual, Lance did not stay. Climbing out of the bed, he stretched and picked out his clothes for the day and walked into the bathroom before showering. He took his time as he usually did, especially since he was still recovering from his cold and enjoyed the warm water. Once he was done, he stepped out, dried himself off and dressed before exiting the room.

"What's for breakfast Lance?" he asked walking into the dining room, rubbing a towel over his hair. When Lance didn't respond, Merlin removed the towel and looked at the table and stopped short when he saw a man sitting there that was not Lancelot. The man at the table was one that he had never seen before, he was broad shouldered with dark red hair and cold blue eyes that were narrowed at him. "Um," he said, looking around for Lance, "where's Lance?"

"He's been reassigned," the man said coldly and Merlin barely suppressed a shudder, there was something about this man that he didn't like right off the bat. "I'm Steffan, I'm your new guardian."

"Lance didn't say anything about..."

"It is not his job to tell you everything," Steffan snapped, "he is gone and I am in charge now, understood?" the man demanded and Merlin nodded. "Good, now eat," he said and gestured to the table and Merlin made his way slowly to the seat opposite the other man.

"I don't know about Du Lac," Steffan said when Merlin had pulled the cover off of his breakfast, not daring to comment on the oatmeal there, "but showers are to be fifteen minutes, no more thirty minute showers, understood?" Merlin looked up at the man in shock, licking his lips, trying to ignore how the other man's eyes followed the motion, and nodded. "Also, breakfast is at seven a.m., if you are late again, you will not eat, that goes for all meals, no exceptions." Merlin nodded and leaned forward, pushing unflavored oatmeal into his mouth, trying suppress a gag at the taste and texture.

Sometime later, Steffan led him from their rooms towards the library but didn't stop there, they passed that room and kept going to a door at the end of the hall where Steffan entered a number on a keypad and stepped inside. The room was large with floor to ceiling shelves filled with what looked like data pads, each had a tag that on further inspection had a name and a series of numbers on it.

"You'll be working in here," Steffan said, turning to Merlin who looked confused.

"What?" he asked eloquently and Steffan's glare turned up a notch, he seemed to do nothing but glare at Merlin.

"It's time that you started paying the Pendragon's back for their hospitality, especially since you cost them a lot of money, being in the infirmary those four days. You," Steffan continued, turning and walking further into the room, "will be taking orders from these computers," he said pointing to a computer bank, "and pulling the data cards from the shelves." Merlin looked around again, noticing how very large the room was. There was the computer bank that seemed to hold three computers and the rest of the space was filled with the shelves, maybe three feet between each one. "Sit," Steffan demanded, pointing at a chair and Merlin did as he was told, having to squeeze between the other man and the computer console to do so. Merlin looked at the screen and then the keyboard, he had never been very good at computers, his mother didn't have one at home and he had tried to avoid them at school. Steffan leaned over his shoulder and tapped on the screen, bringing up a program that had a long list of names and a number next to them.

"This is a list of all the data cards you need to pull," Stffan said, his breath ghosting over Merlin's neck and Merlin pulled away, disgusted. "I expect you to have half of it done by lunch," he said and stood. "I'll be back at noon," he said before running a hand across the back of Merlin's neck as he left. Once Steffan was out of the room, Merlin allowed himself to shudder and rubbed at his neck, feeling more and more disgusted by the other man as the day went on.

Three hours later, Merlin was feeling exhausted, he was still recovering and having to walk from the front of the room to shelves at the other end was tiring him out. He was more than halfway through the list though as he sat down, placing the small stack in front of him on a trolly he had found.

"Oh, hello Merlin," a voice said and he looked up and found Gwen standing there, looking surprised to see him.

"Hi Gwen," he replied, smiling tiredly at her.

"Where's Lance?" she asked as she made her way to the computer next to him.

"I don't know, he's been reassigned," Merlin said, staring down at the stacks of data cards in front of him.

"What?" she asked, looking at him confused.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging, "I came out of my room this morning and Steffan was there."

"That's odd," she said tapping the screen in front of her, "he didn't say anything to you before today?"

"No," Merlin replied feeling hurt again. When he had left the infirmary yesterday, he had thought that Lance was acting oddly, but didn't think he would do something like this.

"I'll talk to Gwaine, see if he knows anything," she said, smiling at Merlin reassuringly.

"What's going on here?" a voice asked and they looked up to see Steffan standing there, glaring at them both.

"We're just talking," Gwen said, assuming correctly that this was Merlin's new guardian.

"Did I give you permission to speak to her?" Steffan demanded of Merlin who paled and looked at Gwen. "It is against the rules to be talking to another slave," he spat and both flinched, "without my permission and without me or her guardian here to watch you."

"We were just talking," Gwen said, now glaring at Steffan and he smiled coldly at her.

"I don't care if you were sending smoke signals," he snapped, "you have no right, I should report you both."

"Now wait," Merlin said, standing and taking a defensive pose in front of Gwen, "we have open permission to speak without our guardian's say so."

"According to whom?" Steffan asked, his eyes glinting dangerously.

"Myself and Lancelot Du Lac," a new voice joined in and they turned to see Gwaine and Elyan standing there.

"Who are you?" Steffan demanded and Gwen made her way to Gwaine's side.

"I'm Gwen's guardian and she has open permission to speak to Merlin any time she wants," Gwaine shot back, "Lancelot gave Merlin open permission to do the same."

"Well I'm not Du Lac, so that permission has been revoked," Steffan said, turning to Merlin who looked shocked, Gwen looked to Gwaine and Gwaine glared at Steffan.

"They are friends, they should be able to speak without our presence or permission," Gwain said through clenched teeth.

"Do I need to remind you that letting them fraternize unsupervised is against the rules of Camelot Underground?" Steffan said, returning Gwaine's glare. "We're leaving Merlin," he said when Gaine had no quick come back and strode to the door, "now Merlin!" he snapped when the younger man didn't move fast enough. Merlin walked forward and stopped by Gwen for a moment, giving her a look of apology, he followed his guardian out of the room.

\------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Current

"Ok Merlin," Gaius said, stepping up the shaking young man who was sitting on the bed, his hands clasped between his knees, his chin resting on his chest, "let me take a look." The boy in front of him didn't move, didn't respond as if he hadn't heard him. Gaius reached out and rested a hand lightly on his shoulder and Merlin's head shot up and Gaius pulled back, reacting to the gold rimming his eyes. Merlin took a gasping breath and closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them they were back to their normal color. Gaius stared in shock when he realized that the cut on his lip and the bruising around his eye were gone.

Merlin blinked his eyes and took in the fact that he was in the infirmary and Gaius was standing in front of him with a shocked look on his face. The last thing he remembered was running from his room and seeing Lance in the doorway.

"Merlin," Gaius said, keeping his distance, "what happened?" Merlin flinched back as if he had been struck and started to shake harder, his breathing becoming erratic. "Merlin, calm down," Gaius said, reaching out now that he could see that Merlin was truly upset.

"He's dead," Merlin said, shaking his head back and forth repeatedly and Gaius could see that he was really upset.

"Merlin," Gaius said sharply, "Steffan is not dead," this brought Merlin's eyes up and he seemed to shake harder. "What happened?"

"Gaius?" Lance's voice called from beyond the curtain before Merlin could answer and the older man turned.

"Excuse me Merlin," the older man said and stepped beyond the curtain leaving Merlin to himself.

"What did you find?" Gaius asked, leading Lance away from Merlin and into the near empty infirmary, Steffan was across the room behind another curtain. He had suffered several broken bones, one that had punctured a lung and some internal bleeding.

"It's not good," Lance said, running a hand over his face, he had gotten to the footage of what had happened in Merlin's room before anyone else. "It's as we thought, and Merlin defended himself." Gaius cursed under his breath, they had assumed with Merlin's defensive wounds, there had been bruising and the way that Merlin had tried to defend himself from Lance, correctly that Steffan had attacked him.

"With magic?" he asked and Lance nodded.

"Nearly sent him through the ceiling."

"Any way to cover this up?" Gaius asked and Lance huffed out a laugh.

"I have all copies of the footage right now," he said, "but there is the fact that the ceiling has a man-shaped dent in it, that is going to be harder to hide."

"There may be no way to hide this," Gaius said pacing in front of the other man, "if Steffan lives, he's going to tell what happened."

"Sounds like you're willing to let him die," Lance said with a laugh but stopped when Gaius didn't contradict him. "Gaius," he started to say but Gaius shook his head, holding up a hand.

"I will do what I have to to heal him, but if he dies, it is no skin off my back. Do you know what he put Merlin through?" the older man asked, rounding on Lance and noticed the guilty look on his face and realized that he probably did.

\------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Three Days Ago

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gwaine asked, sitting across from Lance in the cafeteria that was for guardian's only. Gwen was with Morgana and Elyan was with Gaius for a checkup that would take more than an hour.

"What's wrong with me?" Lance asked and placed his fork down, glaring at the man across from him, he knew why he was there. He hated himself for leaving Merlin, but he couldn't live with the idea that Merlin could do magic. He had grown up being taught that magic was dangerous, people shouldn't have that much power, that they could use it for evil, topple governments, and kill with a thought. When Camelot Industries had created the collars that witches and warlocks now wore that suppressed their magic, the world thought they were safe, including Lance. To find out that a warlock could pass that collar, the thing that protected non-magic users scared the hell out of him.

"The bastard that they assigned to him has him working the archives and has revoked his right to speak to Gwen without permission." Lance looked down at his lunch, feeling a lot less hungry than he had moments before. "Just tell me why."

"Merlin..." he started but then shut his mouth, not sure what he could say. He knew that he could trust Gwaine with some things, but he wasn't sure he could with this. "It didn't work out," he finished lamely, picking up his fork again, avoiding the other man's eyes.

"That is the shittiest excuse I think I've ever heard," Gwaine spat at him.

"Well that's all you're getting so bugger off," Lance snapped, glaring again at the other man again. They glared at each other for a long moment before Gwaine stood and stormed off and Lance stabbed at his plate in anger.

\------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Current

"Gaius," a voice called and said man looked up to find a uniformed man standing in his doorway as he went over the paperwork in front of him.

"Yes," he replied, looking over the uniform of one of the guards that worked for the Pendragon's. These men were different than the guardian's that took care of the witches and warlocks, they were the ones that hunted down any runaways and dealt with any problems that arose.

"Mr. Pendragon wants to see you," the man said before turning and walking away and Gaius had to wonder why Uther hadn't just called like he normally did. Standing, he walked out of his office, past the room they were keeping Merlin in for safety and to the elevator that took him to Uther's office.

"Come in," Uther called when he knocked on his closed door and Gaius walked in, noticing that Gaius was behind his desk but another man was sitting in front of him, his back to Gaius.

"You wanted to see me sir?" he asked and nearly stopped in his tracks when the man across from Uther turned.

"Yes Gaius, thank you for coming," Uther said, gesturing to the other seat across from him and Gaius took it, trying to keep the man next to him in his line of sight. "You know Aredian," Uther said, nodding to the other man.

"I do," Gaius said and nodded in greeting, feeling his skin crawling as Aredian smiled at him in hello.

"It is good to see you, Gaius," Aredian said and turned back to Uther.

"Is it that time of year again?" Gaius asked, also turning back. Aredian, a well-known and brutal witch hunter, showed up once a year to test the witches and warlocks to find out any threats. Of course his thoughts flew to Merlin and what had happened, so far they had been able to keep it quiet, Gaius had given a vague report that Steffan had attacked and Merlin had fought back. They had kept those everyone out of Merlin's room, paying off a maintenance worker to make up a story. Steffan was alive but Gaius was keeping him sedated until they found a way around this problem and Aredian.

"It is indeed," Aredian said, his smile becoming cold and brittle.

"This is the list," Uther said, handing him a piece of paper and Gaius looked over it, a cold lump of dread settling in his stomach when he realized that Merlin was second on the list.

"When would you like to begin?" Gaius asked, keeping his eyes on Uther, trying to think of something, some way to get Merlin out.

"Today, I'd like to see the first on that list," Aredian said taking the list from Gaius, "Katarina, I believe she is the newest?" Both Uther and Gaius nodded, confirming his information and the witch hunter stood.

"You'll get them ready," Uther said to Gaius, making it an order and Gaius nodded and stood, following Aredian out of the room.

"I will bring Katarina to you," Gaius said, turning away from the man.

"Gaius?" Aredian called and the older man turned back to him, "I would like to see you at some point today."

"Of course," Gaius said, nodding his head once before turning again to head to his office to call Katarina's guardian.

\------------------------------------------------------------------ p>Two Days Ago

"Merlin, I don't understand," he said when Merlin stepped back on the scale and Gaius saw that the scale was right, Merlin was down three pounds. "You have been eating, correct?" Gaius asked and Merlin's eyes flicked towards where Steffan was standing behind the curtain but didn't respond. Gaius laid his clipboard aside and placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder.

"Merlin, you can talk to me, if there is something going on, you need to tell me," he said gently.

"There's nothing going on," Merlin said quietly, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"Merlin, I can't help you..."

"Are you done?" a voice asked and Gaius turned, noticing how Steffan's eyes raked over Merlin's form.

"Yes, he has lost some weight so we'll need to up his food intake," Gaius said, picking up the clipboard once more and writing something down.

"Let's go," Steffan said as soon as Merlin was dressed and Gaius watched as they left, a heavy feeling in his gut.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Current

"We have a problem," Gaius said as soon as Lance walked into his office ten minutes after calling him in.

"Aredian is here," Lance said, taking a seat across from him and Gaius nodded, not surprised that the news of the witch hunter's presence had spread so quickly.

"And Merlin is second on his list," Gaius said, pulling up something on his computer.

"What do we do?" Lance asked.

"We get him out," Gaius said, reaching into his desk and pulling out a sheaf of papers.

"Get him out?" Lance asked, confused, "How do you plan to do that?"

"Before this building was owned by the Pendragon's, it was used by the Wizard Council," Gaius said and Lance nodded in understanding.

Camelot had once been the capital city of Albion, built around peace between those with magic and those without. Both magic-users and non-magic users had council's that worked to keep that peace in all of Albion. Twenty-five years ago, a young council member named Uther Pendragon made his way through the ranks of the council to high council member having only been there for three years, something never done before. When he took the High Councilor's position two years later, things started to change, he and a warlock named Kilgarrah, the high Warlock on the council did not get along. Kilgarrah stated that there was a darkness in Uther that would be the downfall of all of Albion. Uther declared that Kilgarrah and the other magic users were looking to overthrow the hierarchy of Albion. Uther started the idea that warlocks and witches were too powerful, making them out to be monsters. Kilgarrah and the council did what they could to downplay these rumors, but there were fights that broke out, accusations flew back and forth, several were killed. Those without magic started to think along the lines of Uther and his followers and started calling for the regulation of magic.

When a fight broken out between several young non-magic users and several warlocks and witches, ending in the death of six of the non-magic users, Kilgarrah realized he needed to protect his people. The magic users were given sanctuary in the council's tower until an investigation could be done. Uther used that for a campaign against them, saying that Kilgarrah and the council were hiding them and Uther's council demanded those involved but Kilgarrah refused.

For almost eight months they went back and forth while tensions between those in Camelot escalated and violence against magic users was a daily thing. Kilgarrah moved most of the magic-user's into the tower when he realized that things were not going to calm down. Finally in the last days of Kilgarrah's stay in Camelot, he spoke one more time to Uther, trying to come to an understanding but Uther refused. Uther had agreed to meet with him but only at his council's tower and Kilgarrah found out why not long after he arrived.

He had met Uther and several other member's of the council in the large chamber at the top of the tower to negotiate and it didn't take him long to figure that it was a trap. He was quickly pinned down by several rogue witches, including his former apprentice, Nimueh.

The fight was over quickly, Kilgarrah easily subduing those magic user's in the chamber and turning to Uther.

"You will regret this," he snarled and Uther laughed.

"You're time is up old man," he had taunted and waived in a group of people, all heavily armed and wearing heavy armor and Kilgarrah was surrounded quickly.

"You think these puny human's can stop me?" Kilgarrah asked and before the eyes of those around him, he changed into a large dragon. "You will regret this Uther Pendragon," he said and spread his wings and flew through the glass dome at the top of the building, raining glass on those below.

Uther had been beyond angry, the dragon's had been thought to have been hunted down and extinct, but here one had survived and lived under his nose for years.

After that, witches and warlocks were hunted, Uther took over the warlock's tower and set up Camelot Underground all while searching for Kilgarrah, who stayed away.

When Kilgarrah left he had sealed up the tunnels that his people had used to escape so that Uther and his people could not use them, he had sealed them until they were needed again. They were known of, Kilgarrah had shown them to everyone and Nimueh was more than happy to lead Uther to them. When they did not open, he had become angry and enslaved Nimueh as his own and started the company that had created the collars.

"We have no way to access those tunnels," Lance pointed out and Gaius shook his head in denial.

"All we need is a warlock that is powerful," he said.

"Merlin," he said and Lance's eyebrow's furrowed, "they haven't been accessible because only collared witches and warlocks have tried."

"Nimueh tried," Lance pointed out and Gaius nodded his head.

"Yes, but Kilgarrah had to have known that she would betray him, he is very powerful, and would have an idea and sealed it to her."

"You knew him," Lance said and it wasn't a question and Gaius got a far off look on his face.

"I did, he was a good man," he replied.

"So what do we do?" Lance asked, bringing Gaius back from where he had gone.

"Merlin is powerful enough to open those tunnels, we just need to get him there."

"Gaius?" a voice asked and they both turned to find a guard there, "Aredian wants to see you."

"I'll be right there," Gaius said and watched as the man walked away before turning back to Lance. "Get him out Lance," he said very seriously and stood, walking out of the room without glancing back.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Day Before

Gaius approached Arthur Pendragon's office with no idea as to what the other man wanted to speak to him about. He had been working on paperwork when Arthur had called and requested his presence in his office.

He bypassed the empty receptionist desk, Alice had gone home for the night, and knocked on Arthur's open ddor.

"Gaius, thank you for coming up, please come in and close the door," Arthur said, looking up briefly, he had taken off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves and his tie lay bunched on the desk next to him. "I hope I'm not keeping you from anything," he went on and Gaius entered the room and closed the door as asked.

"Of course not Arthur, I was just finishing up some paperwork," he explained, taking a seat across from the younger man.

"Good, I asked you up here because some video has come to my attention and I wanted your opinion on it," Arthur said and Gaius felt cold suddenly.

"I'd be happy to," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

Arthur turned and picked up a remote and pressed a button, a large television on the wall behind Gaius started playing. Gaius turned and found footage of himself and Lance wheeling Merlin into the interrogation room. Gaius felt panic welling in his chest, he thought he had turned off all of the video feeds but had obviously missed one.

"Would you like to explain?" Arthur asked, stopping the video just before Lance had realized that Merlin was still able to do magic.

"The collar was killing him," Gaius said, turning back to Arthur who was studying him, "I did what I had to do."

"You removed the chip, a crime punishable by a minimum of six months in jail," Arthur said and Gaius nodded in understanding.

"It saved his life, I don't regret it."

"There is another video," Arthur said, turning back to the television and Gaius closed his eyes, he had an idea what this video was. Once they were done with the video, Gaius stayed turned towards the television for a long moment before turning to find Arthur staring at him.

"What do you know about this?" Arthur asked and Gaius sighed.

"He can do magic," he said and Arthur nodded.

"Obviously," he said dryly. "Do you know what it would mean if my father or anyone else were to find out?"

"Are they going to find out?" Gaius asked, not answering the question, not sure he wanted to know the answer. There was a long silence between them as they stared at each other, both contemplating what the other would do.

"Not from me," Arthur said finally, sitting back and clasping his fingers and Gaius sighed in relief. "We need to get him out of here," the younger man said and Gaius blinked in surprise, "he is in danger here, if anyone realizes what he can do, what he has done, it is a death sentence."

"How would you suggest we do that?" Gaius asked cautiously, wondering if this was a set up.

"The tunnels," Arthur said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, "Merlin is obviously strong enough to open them, he can get out that way."

"The moment he opens one of those tunnels, an alarm will go off, he'll be caught before he even gets five feet."

"So we set up a decoy," Arthur said, shrugging his shoulders as if this conversation was a daily thing for him. "I'll work out the details and let you know," he said, an obvious dismissal in his voice but Gaius didn't move.

"Why?" he asked, needing to know why Arthur was willing to go against his father and everything that he stood for. Arthur paused for a long moment, his eyes on his desk before lifting to Gaius'.

"I have my reason's," he said simply and Gaius nodded, knowing that it was the best he was going to get from the younger man.

"Let me know when," Gaius said and stood, leaving the room and Arthur to himself.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Current

"Merlin," Lance said as he used his code to unlock the door and Merlin looked up surprised and eyed him wearily, "we have to go."

"What?" he said eloquently and Lance walked in, closing the door behind him to avoid anyone seeing what was going on.

"I'm getting you out of here," Lance said and Merlin's eyes narrowed.

"Why?" he asked and Lance sighed, he knew that he Merlin had reason to distrust him, and he kicked himself again for abandoning the younger man.

"Gaius just told me to get you out," Lance said.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Merlin asked, standing, he really didn't want to trust Lance, he hadn't seen anything of him in the last three days. He had heard him talking to Gaius on several occasions but nothing had been said between the two of them.

"The tunnels," Lance said, moving to the door and opening it and checking the room for anyone else and found it nearly empty.

"What tunnels?" Merlin asked, moving up behind him and looking out as well.

"There are tunnels leading out that can only be opened by someone who can do magic," Lance explained, looking back at him before he turned, pulling out a small device, waved it over Merlin's collar and it clicked.

"You know," Merlin said and Lance glanced up at him briefly.

"We know," he responded and reached for Merlin's neck and Merlin flinched away, causing Lance to stop and look up again.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said quietly and they stared at each other for a long moment before Merlin nodded and Lance again reached for the collar. There was pressure on Merlin's neck for a moment before Lance pulled back, holding up the chip.

"Isn't that going to alert someone?" Merlin asked eying the chip wearily.

"No, Gaius did something to make it so there wouldn't be an alert, now come on," Lance said, again glancing out before leading the way into the infirmary.

"How does Gaius know how to turn that alert off? He doesn't..."

"I don't know Merlin," Lance interrupted him, glancing at him briefly over his shoulder, "now come on."

\---------------

Still Current

Gaius walked to the small conference room that Aredian had been set up in, one floor below where Arthur and Uther had their offices and was nodded in by the men standing guard at the door.

"Ah, Gaius," Aredian said, looking up from a folder he had in front of him before setting it aside and opening another and Gaius could see a picture of himself paper-clipped to the papers. "Thank you for coming," the witch hunter said and Gaius nodded, keeping his expression neutral.

"Of course," he said and watched as Aredian looked through the folder, flipping pages and seeming to read what was there. Aredian sighed and put down the papers before leaning forward and clasping his hands together over them, staring hard at Gaius.

"Are you still denying that you know magic?" he asked and Gaius was not surprised, the other man always asked that question first on his yearly visits and Gaius always answered the same.

"Of course I am, I have never done magic, I have no talent for it," he responded as he always did and Aredian 'hmmed'.

"What do you know about this Merlin Emrys?" the other man asked, setting aside Gaius' file and picked up another, this one had a picture of Merlin and Gaius was surprised, Aredian never asked for his opinion.

"He was brought in about a month ago and has been in our care since," Gaius said.

"He became sick?" Aredian asked and Gaius nodded.

"Yes, but he got better, and will be able to work soon I believe."

"Hmm," Aredian said, again looking down at the papers, "tell me about the altercation between him and his handler, Steffan Du Pont."

"What is there to tell?" Gaius asked, wondering if the other man had somehow seen the tape that Arthur had gotten a hold of.

"According to Mr. Du Pont," Aredian said, pulling out a piece of paper, "Emrys attacked him, unprovoked, and that Emrys used magic." There was a long silence as both men stared at each other.

"I was not aware that Mr. Du Pont was awake," Gaius said, genuinely surprised, last he knew, the man was still sedated under his orders.

"Seemed that he had been sleeping longer than needed," Aredian said, a question in his voice but Gaius didn't rise to the bait.

"He said that Merlin used magic?" he asked instead, his voice showing incredulity, "I thought that was impossible."

"Yes, it seems that Emrys is the reason for his state," Aredian said.

"And how did Du Pont say that Merlin came to use magic against him?" Gaius was very curious as to what the man had said, considering what he had seen.

"He said that he entered Emrys' room because he heard some noises from the boy and when he entered, Emrys was having a nightmare. Du Pont tried to wake him and the next thing he knew he was thrown into the ceiling."

"Is there any evidence pointing to this?" Gaius asked, very curious if Aredian had seen the tape, they had had the ceiling repaired and all of the tapes, or at least what they thought was all of them, in their possession.

"No, but how do you explain the broken bones and bruises?" Aredian shot back.

"I do not know, all I came to understand was that he was found in that state and brought to me," Gaius lied, staring the witch hunter in the eyes.

"By Lance Du Lac, Emrys' previous handler, correct?" Aredian asked, flipping to another page.

"Yes, he had been concerned for Merlin's well being," Gaius said in Lance's defense.

"Why is that?" Aredian asked.

"I had noticed that Merlin had been losing weight had been informed that Du Pont had him working when I had not given him leave to do so."

"Working in the archives," Aredian said looking down at the papers again and Gaius nodded. "Do you not think it was proper that Emrys started paying the Pendragon's back?"

"I think so, but he has to be cleared medically by me before he can be put to work, with his recovering from a sever cold as well as losing weight, I told Du Pont to stop, but he refused." Aredian stared at Gaius for a long moment and Gaius kept his gaze unflinchingly.

"This is how I think it happened," Aredian said, sitting back, "I think that this Emrys character can do magic, I don't know how, but he can. Du Pont found out, and went in to confront him and Emrys attacked him and you're covering for him."

Gaius didn't respond, he knew that Aredian would assume what he would and nothing that he would say would change that.

"Sir," a voice said and Aredian looked past Gaius but Gaius stared at the wall, the man hadn't been speaking to him.

"What?" Aredian asked, annoyed.

"Emrys' collar has set off its alarm," the guard said and the witch hunter looked at Gaius and he stared back, his face still blank.

"Let's go," Aredian said, standing and the guard left the room, "we're not finished," he said to Gaius before he left, following the guard.

\--------------------------------------------------

Current Still

"Wait, wait, wait," Lance said, holding a hand to Merlin's chest when he heard a voices down a hall and looked around the corner to see several guards making their way towards them and cursed.

"What do we do?" Merlin asked, also peeking around the corner, pulling back quickly when Lance pushed him back.

"The tunnel entrance is around here somewhere," Lance said running a hand down the wall looking for a crease.

"Lance, they're coming," Merlin said quietly, moving further down the hall, away from the connecting one.

"Here," Lance said, pulling Merlin to a spot on the wall.

"What do I do?" Merlin asked, resting his hands on the wall where Lance indicated.

"Use your magic," Lance said, glancing behind them to where they could hear the footsteps getting closer.

"Right," Merlin said and closed his eyes, drawing on his power, but nothing happened, his magic wasn't coming to him.

"Merlin," Lance hissed, panic evident in his voice.

"I can't," Merlin said, shocked, feeling very afraid of what would happen if they were caught.

"What do you mean you can't?" Lance asked.

"I can't," Merlin said, looking at him, his eyes wide, "my magic is not coming to me."

"Fuck," Lance said turning when he heard someone enter the hallway behind them and found a guard standing there, looking shocked to see them.

"Halt!" the man called and Merlin looked up, his eyes wide as the man was joined by three other guards.

"Now Merlin," Lance hissed and Merlin closed his eyes again, but again nothing happened and he felt tears of frustration well up.

"Stop," one of the guards said, all four reaching them by that point and Merlin rested his head against the wall.

\--------------------------------------------------

In his office, Uther Pendragon was meeting with a possible new client when his phone rang, he gave it an irritated glance before turning back to the men, ignoring it until it fell silent. A moment later it started again and he picked up the receiver, he was not to be disturbed, it was known and whoever was on the other end would reap the consequences.

"What?" he snapped angrily into the phone.

"Sir, Merlin Emrys has escaped," Edwin Porter, the head of his security, said and Uther nearly lost his composure.

"Where is he?" he said, his voice a barely controlled low tone.

"Tunnel twenty-two," the man said and Uther slammed the phone down, making the men in front of him start.

"Excuse me gentleman, something has come up, if you will enjoy the refreshments in front of you, I will be back shortly," he said and stood quickly before walking out of the room, his guards falling into step behind him.

\-----------------------------------------------

"Don't move," one of the men behind Merlin said and he glanced at Lance, noticing the defeated look on his face and Merlin closed his eyes again.

"You're not very smart, are you Du Lac?" one of the other men asked, "and as for you," he said, placing a hand on Merlin's shoulder, "we'll see you dead." In the second that the man's hand landed on his shoulder, Merlin felt his power well up and push outward, throwing the men behind him against the wall. Lance stared in wonder as Merlin seemed to glow an unearthly gold color before he reached out and placed his right hand on the wall and it slid back.

"Let's go," Merlin said walking forward, ignoring the fallen men behind him, Lance gave them one last glance before he followed the younger man, the wall sliding shut behind him.

\-----------------------------------------------

Across town

A woman was lying on a bed in a lavish apartment, one ankle chained to the base of the bed, a collar snug around her throat. She had been in a deep sleep when a sudden jolt had her eyes shooting open and she could barely breathe as she stared at the ceiling. A moment later, she took a deep breath and smiled to the empty room.

"Uther Pendragon, your days are numbered," she said, her voice nearly echoing in the vast space around her and she started to laugh and could not stop.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Merlin make their way out and pick up a few people on the way.

There was a small vanity across the room, far enough away that the chain barely reached but it gave her enough room to sit and stare into the broken glass surrounded by broken light bulbs. The mirror was splintered and gave broken images of the dark haired woman in front of it. She sat brushing her long hair, never allowed to cut it, while humming to herself.

“One, two, red, blue, orange,” she sang while picking up several dolls made of paper, fingering them one by one before setting them down again. Next she picked up a brush and ran it over her hair, still humming to herself. “Where have all the men gone?” she asked her reflection before giggling to herself. “Papa's lost his marbles,” the woman said, looking to her right were a empty seat was but she reached out and brushed her hand over air as if she were stroking something. “The stars are quiet tonight,” she said, looking out of the large French doors that looked out on a courtyard.

“Dinner,” a woman's voice said but the woman did not turn but watched her through the mirror, running her brush over her hair once again. The woman backed out of the room, watching her as if she would attack at any moment.

“Papa's poisoned the water,” she said and waved her hand, and the food on the plate disappeared. “One, two, red, blue, orange,” she said, turning back to the dolls she had made.

\---

Merlin and Lancelot made their way down the long white passageway, it was small, only room for one person to walk comfortably and stretched out before them and closed behind them as they went. They turned right down a bend in the passageway and came to an abrupt halt when the wall closed in front and behind them leaving them in a very small space.

“Merlin, what did you do?” Lance demanded and turned in a circle to survey the white walls that looked the same, providing no way out.

“I didn't do anything,” the younger man replied, placing his hands on the four walls, pushing magic into them but nothing happened.

“I don't like small spaces,” Lance said starting to feel like his chest was being squeezed.

“Calm down Lance,” Merlin said, shooting him a glance.

“I can't calm down,” Lance said, his voice becoming high pitched as he tried to get enough air into his lungs.

“Lance,” Merlin said placing his hand on the others' arm, “breath.” Lance took several deep breaths before nodding though he still felt panic.

“I think,” Merlin said as he placed his hand on the wall to their right, “this should do it,” as he said that, the wall behind them slid open.

“Isn't that the way we came?” Lance asked, looking down the hall but saw nothing but white walls.

“We don't have any other choice,” Merlin replied, looking around again at the three remaining walls before stepping into the hallway.

This hallway was straight and didn't move one way or the other and after a while it came to an end and Merlin sighed in frustration.

“What now?” Lance asked and Merlin closed his eyes, trying to hold in the harsh reply on the tip of his tongue. He opened his mouth to respond but jumped back a foot when the wall suddenly flew upwards, opening into the gym that had been down the hallway from Merlin's room.

“What is going on?” Merlin asked, stepping into the room slowly and looking around cautiously.

“Merlin?” a voice asked and he turned to see Gwen, Elyan and several other slaves standing there, “what are you doing here, they said you'd escaped.”

“We were,” Lance said, stepping past Merlin who hadn't moved much further than a couple of steps. “The tunnels led us here,” he explained and Merlin turned, cursing when the wall behind them closed.

“And now it seems, we're doing our best to get caught,” he said, leaning his head against the wall where the door had been.

\---

Gaius sat in the chair in the conference room and stared out the windows that looked over the city, the lights that spread out before them twinkling at him. He was torn, he could leave, he knew he could, easily and they would never know how he did it. As soon as Aredian came back, the man would have him arrested, the other man wouldn't be able to prove that he had helped in the escape, but Gaius would be 'held for questioning'. 

Gaius stood and walked to the wall to his left, running his hand along the smooth surface and kept going even though he felt his magic flare when he found the door. Following the wall, he made his way to the windows and stared out, wondering where Merlin was and if he was safe yet.   
Walking back to the door leading to the tunnels, he stood there for a moment, contemplating before making a decision and sitting down again, waiting for Aredian to come back.

\---

“You have to leave,” Gwen said, looking between the would-be escapees, “if those guards come back you'll be caught.”

“I'm aware of that Gwen,” Melin said as he walked along the wall, looking for the door they had entered the room through, but found nothing. Suddenly he turned towards the group of slaves who were watching him with a mixture of awe and fear. “I need your help,” he said.

“We're not like you Merlin,” Gwen pointed out, “we can't do magic with these collars on.”

“Lance, use that device that Gaius gave you,” Merlin said, turning to him and Lance nodded, before moving towards Gwen.

“You realize that this will probably set off more alarms,” he pointed out, moving in front of Gwen.

“Yeah, well it can't make it worse,” Merlin said, moving further away from where he had been searching.

“That will remove the collar?” Gwen asked, looking at the small device in Lance's hand.

“It will deactivate the chip I understand,” Lance said holding it up, waiting for her approval, “it will give you back your magic.” Gwen looked into his eyes for a moment before she nodded and closed her eyes, tensing as if it might hurt. Lance waived the device over the collar where the chip was and they heard a click.

“Was that it?” Gwen asked, opening her eyes, “I don't feel any-” her sentence was cut off with a gasp as she suddenly went taught, her eyes growing wide as her body was engulfed in flames.

“Gwen!” Lance cried, reaching out to her but Merlin held him back.

“It's her magic, her element must be fire,” he explained and they watched as the fire slowly receded into her body until only her hands were burning. She took another deep, shaking breath and clenched her hands into fists, extinguishing the flames.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, tears running down her cheeks as she opened her hand and a small flame danced between her palm and the tips of her fingers.

“Anyone else?” Merlin asked and most of the slaves looked hopeful but took a step back, all but Elyan who stepped forward. Lance did the same to his collar and a moment later, a large gust of wind swept through the entire room before wrapping itself around Elyan and settled, only a slight breeze playing with his hair showed his magic.

“Any others?” Merlin asked again but no one stepped forward, keeping their eyes down and Merlin sighed. “Help me find a door,” he said to Gwen and Elyan and they separated,   
quickly following the walls.

“Here,” Elyan called and the others moved to him as the door opened, leading to another long hallway.

“Joy, more white walls,” Lance muttered under his breath but smiled at Gwen when she took his hand in hers.

“What are you doing?” a voice called and they turned to see Gwaine standing there, staring at the four of them.

“We're leaving Gwaine,” Gwen said stepping forward but stopped when Gwaine raised a stun gun, pointing it at them.

“I can't let you do that,” he said, shaking his head.

“We have to go Gwaine,” Elyan said, stepping in front of the others, “we don't deserve this life, no one does.”

“But it's the life you have been born into,” Gwaine said but the argument sounded weak, even to his own ears.

“How?” Gwen asked, “because we were born with something we had no control over? Would you say this to your own brother?” Gwaine's arm which had been lowering raised again at the mention of his brother.

“Don't bring him into this,” he said through clenched teeth.

“He's not here with the Pendragon's, but out there, we can search for him,” Gwen said, pleading with him now, conscious of time and that they may be running out of it. 

“Gwen is my little sister, Gwaine,” Elyan said and Merlin was surprised, he didn't know that, “and if I were in your situation, I'd do what I could to find her like you are him. Being stuck here though, not able to search for him, is not the way to do that. You have been our guardian for four years now Gwaine, ever since we were dragged here, and I thought you were our friend.”

“That's low, even for you,” Gwaine said and lowered his weapon.

“It's the truth,” Elyan said, shrugging.

“I don't think I've ever heard you speak so much,” the other man said chuckling and Elyan smiled back.

“We'll search for your brother once we're out, we'll find him and send word back to you, tell you where he is,” he said, laying a hand on Gwaine's arm.

“No,” Gwaine said after a few moments, several emotions playing across his face, “I'm coming with you.” Hearing footsteps quickly approaching the doors that led to the gym, he turned back to the others, “we should probably go, now.”

Merlin led the way into the hallway, Lance behind him, grumbling about small spaces followed by Gwen and Elyan with Gwaine bringing up the rear, the door closing behind them. They had gone only a few steps when the lights that seemed to have no source went out, leaving them in complete darkness.

“Merlin!” Lance cried.

“I didn't do anything!” the younger man yelled back.

\---

“You're still here,” Aredian's voice had Gaius turning to see him entering the room once more, a dark scowl on his face.

“Where would I go?” he asked and watched as Aredian gathered up the folders that were still sitting on the table.

“Don't play cute with me,” Aredian said, shooting a dark glare at him, “you're under house arrest until we find out what exactly is going on.” He nodded towards the door and two men entered the room, wearing the uniforms of Pendragon Security. “These men will escort you to your rooms, you will not leave them until I say so, give them any problems and I will have you arrested and thrown in jail. Am I understood?” Aredian asked, having walked around the table and now stood in Gaius' personal space, looking him straight in the eye.

“Perfectly,” Gaius said and watched as the other man stormed out of the room, and then dutifully followed his guards, one in front, one in back to his rooms.

“Sir,” Gaius heard a voice and turned to look over his shoulder, to see a woman approaching in a hurry, the last thing he heard as he rounded the corner was Aredian swearing.

\---

Gwen had moved to the front of the group, using her fire magic to light the way though Lance kept close but they ran into no further troubles. Eventually the long hall ended at another dead end and Merlin moved to the front once again. He studied the door, noticing a strange design, what looked like tubes that ended in small holes, covering it, and no matter how much magic he put in, nothing happened.

“What's going on?” Gwaine asked, still at the back of the group.

“The door's not opening,” Merlin said, shaking his head, feeling along the tubes again when a thought struck him. “Elyan, use your magic, see if the wind will open the door,” he instructed and moved out of the way as the other young man made his way forward. A strong wind whipped around them before rushing into the tubes, making a whistling sound as it went. For a long heart-stopping moment, nothing happened and Merlin started to worry when suddenly the door disappeared and they were looking outside.

They were facing what looked like an alley, the side of another building not twenty feet away, the ground strewn with garbage. Lance pushed Merlin and Elyan back before taking a look around the doorway.

“Stay here,” he said to them all and left the safety of the tunnel and disappeared around the corner where they could hear traffic. There was a long wait before he came back, a woman following him, and motioned them to come out of hiding.

“Morgana?” Gwen asked when she recognized the woman following Lance.

“Hello Gwen,” Morgana said, moving forward and gripping her hand, looking over the faces of those there.

“What are you doing here?” Gwaine asked, feeling weary of the appearance of Uther Pendragon's ward.

“I'm here to take two of you to safety,” she replied and held up her hand, a ball of light appearing for a moment before she closed it again, the ball disappearing.

“Two of us?” Merlin asked in alarm.

“I only have room for two,” Morgana said apologetically, looking between the five standing before her.

“That can't be,” Merlin said, shaking his head, “three of us are not going to stay behind.”

“I was told that only two people were going to be coming out of that tunnel, not five,” Morgana replied defensively.

“We'll figure something out then,” Merlin said, looking at the others, panic in his eyes.

“You had better do it soon then,” Morgana replied, “we are working against time.”

“What about three trips?” Lance offered but Morgana shook her head.

“One trip is going to be risky enough, if I leave and come back and leave again, especially when the city is on alert, it will draw attention.”

“We could put Gwen and Merlin in hiding,” Gwaine spoke up, “and leave Lance and I visible.”

“And what about Elyan?” Merlin demanded.

“Plus,” Morgana pointed out, “they will be looking for you and Lance, if they see you, they will know something is going on.”

“Merlin,” Gwen's quiet voice said, silencing the arguing as he turned towards her, “you have to go.”

“What? No!” he cried, shaking his head back and forth.

“She's right,” Gwen said, she had been standing a bit apart from the others, listening to their bickering before, but she knew she had to be the voice of reason, “this plan is centered around you. You have to go.”

“I won't leave you,” Merlin said, “if you're captured again, do you know what they will do to you?” he demanded.

“It is a fate worse than death, I am sure,” she replied, “but Elyan and I grew up in this city, we know it, we will run and hide, we will be safe.”

“No,” Lance said, stepping forward this time and she looked at him, “you and Merlin go,” he said and looked at Elyan who nodded in agreement, “we will hide.”

“Just because I am a girl, does not mean that I can not take care of myself Lance Du Lac,” Gwen said in a dark tone, causing him to take a step back. “Besides, I will not leave Elyan, I will not lose my brother.”

“Gwen,” Elyan started to say but she turned on him.

“Don't you start,” she snapped before rounding on Merlin, her features softening when she saw his distressed look. “Merlin,” she said gently, “Elyan and I grew up with a loving father, one who refused to turn us over to the authorities because he did not want to see us in this life. When things got bad, and trust me, they got bad, he would tell us a story, a prophecy if you will, about a person that would change things. This person would be strong, would be able to face down those who enslave us and stop all of this, would be able to wield magic, even with the greatest restrictions. The story had been told and retold so many times that no one knows if it is supposed to be a man, woman or child. Some stories have them coming in a chariot drawn by dragons, others say from a lake, but no matter what story we believe, I believe it is you.”

“I am no savior,” Merlin said, shaking his head, his eyes wide with a wild look about them.

“Merlin, no one that I have heard of has been able to use magic with these blasted collars on,” Gwen went on, “except you. You told me once that you spoke to an old man named Kilgarrah in the camps, do you know who he is?”

“I didn't at the time, but I learned that he was the last great dragon,” Merlin said.

“He was,” Gwen said, “and he's dead.” There was a collective gasp around them but Gwen's eyes didn't leave Merlin's. “He would not have appeared to you, especially in the camps, shown you that you had access to your magic unless you were important.”

“How do you know that he is dead?” Merlin asked.

“I heard Uther speaking of it,” it was Morgana that answered this time and Merlin turned towards her.

“We would have heard about it, there would be celebrating,” Lance pointed out but Morgana shook her head.

“Uther does not believe it until he sees the body, but those who claim to have killed him are certain of it.”

“Then if there is no body, there is no proof,” Elyan said.

“They were to bring the proof tonight,” Morgana said quietly.

“You see,” Gwen said gripping Merlin's arm, bringing his attention back to her, “we need you out there, you need to bring a stop to this.”

“How?” he demanded, “I'm one person.”

“One person who is extraordinarily strong, Kilgarrah would not have come to you if he did not think you worthy. You have to go Merlin,” she said again. Merlin looked up at the   
five people around him, receiving nods from the three men.

“I would never live with myself if you are caught,” he replied and Gwen pulled him into a hug.

“Then we won't be,” Elyan spoke up and clapped Merlin on the shoulder.

“We should go, we may be a ways off from Pendragon Tower's but the search will spread out this far soon,” Morgana pointed out and Merlin nodded as Gwen pulled back. 

“Take care of them,” he said, shaking Gwaine's hand and the man grinned.

“It's what I've been doing for four years, that's not going to stop because we're out here,” he said before turning to Lance and pulling him into a one-armed hug. “Take care of   
him,” was all he said to the other man before pulling back. Lance shook Elyan's hand and turned to Gwen who surged forward and pulled him into a lingering kiss.

“Take care of yourselves,” she said pulling back, tears in her eyes.

“You too,” he said before giving her one last kiss and they pulled away.

“Here,” Morgana said, stepping forward and placing something in Gwen's hand and when the girl looked down, she found a strange key as well as some money there. “That key will remove the collars, less conspicuous that way,” she said, smiling, “money for, well whatever.”

“Thank you,” Gwen said and hugged the her tightly.

“Be safe,” Morgana whispered into her hair and Gwen pulled back.

“You as well,” Gwen replied and as one, they turned in opposite directions. When Merlin, Morgana and Lance reached the end of the alley, Merlin turned back and found it empty.  
Morgana led Merlin and Lance quickly to a car that was parked around the corner and down another alley and opened the back door of a large SUV. Inside was a backseat that she pulled up and revealed a small compartment.

“We're supposed to fit in there?” Lance asked and eying the small space.

“You may have to lay with one on top of the other, you'll figure it out, but do it in a hurry,” the woman replied and moved towards the front seat.

“Could we lie side by side?” Merlin asked trying to determine the best way to do this.

“Not enough room, I think she's right, I think we will have to lie chest to chest, you'll have to be on top because I'll smother you.” 

“Ok,” Merlin said again, looking down at the space again and waited for Lance to climb inside, Merlin following after and lying on top of him. It was awkward, Lance had to bend his legs and his head was pressed up against the other side of the car at an odd angle, one that would become uncomfortable quickly. Merlin rested his back against Lance's chest as chest to chest was impossible with such a small space and had to pull his knees nearly to his chest to make room.

“Well at least this isn't awkward,” Lance said and Merlin snorted, laying his head on the other man's chest.

“Are you ready?” Morgana asked, walking back and lowering the seat over them, it must have had some magical qualities because they had been enclosed but there was nothing touching Merlin. “Be quiet,” she said before again moving back to the front seat and starting the car. The car started moving and Merlin closed his eyes.  
Not ten minutes later they heard Morgana curse and both men tensed as the car started to slow.

“What's going on?” Merlin asked.

“Road block,” she called back as she came to a complete stop.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Ms. Le Fey,” a male voice was heard from the front of the vehicle, “but we need to check everyone who is leaving the city.”

“Of course,” Morgana said and they heard a door open and close, “can I ask what is going on?”

“Routine checks ma'am,” the man replied and the two men that were hiding heard him circle the car, saw the light of his flashlight sweep through the car from under the seat, each tense and sweating.

“Is a dog really necessary?” they heard Morgana ask and Merlin heard Lance curse under his breath.

“Standard procedure,” the man replied and they could hear a man walking around the car, saying something quietly to the dog, and Merlin could swear he heard the dog sniffing. 

There was a long moment as the dog searched the car before they heard the first man speak again.

“You are free to go Ms. Le Fey, sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Well,” she replied as she opened the door again, “I hope you find what you are looking for.”

“Thank you ma'am,” the man said and Morgana started the car and drove through the road block. No one said anything for several minutes but finally Morgana took a deep breath and swore again, gripping the wheel tightly.

“That was close,” she said but neither Lance or Merlin responded.

\---

“Let's go,” a voice said and Gaius looked up from his books to see one of his guards looking down at him.

“Where are we going?” he asked, standing as he did.

“Aredian wants to speak with you,” he was told and was led out of his rooms and up several floors to where Aredian had been set up in an empty office.

“What did you do?” the man demanded as he entered the room.

“I have done nothing but sit in my rooms as you requested,” Gaius replied, ignoring what the man was actually asking of him.

“I am tired of you playing dumb,” Aredian said, standing and slamming his hands down on the desk in front of him, “you had something to do with these escapes, I know you did.”

“I really don't know what you are talking about,” Gaius replied, keeping eye contact with the other man. “Who escaped?” he asked innocently and Aredian nearly snarled.

“Guinevere and Elyan Black, Merlin Emrys, Lance Du Lac and Gwaine Ryder,” Aredian said, throwing a folder that was open in front of Gaius. The folder had a picture of each of the   
people he had mentioned and general information next to those photo's. Gaius tried to hid his surprise when he heard that Gwen and Elyan had also escaped, that had not been in the plans, but if they could get away, all the better.

“This is the first time that I have heard of this, I was not aware that anyone had gotten away,” he finally said.

“The whole tower has been on lock down and you're going to sit there and say that you had no idea why?” Aredian demanded.

“We have regularly scheduled lock downs as well as unscheduled ones, I assumed it was one of those.”

“You spoke to Du Lac before all of this went on, what did you say?” Aredian asked, sitting down once again.

“I asked how Merlin was doing, if he had said anything to him about what had happened with Steffan.”

“I don't believe you,” Aredian said with narrowed eyes, “because after that he went, took Emrys from the room he was locked in and Emrys, who, according to you, has no access to magic, was able to access the tunnels.”

“If Merlin can use magic, Aredian,” Gaius said, his voice measured, “I had no idea of it.” They stared at each other for a long time, Aredian looking for something that Gaius refused to give him.

“Take him back to his rooms,” he called and Gaius' guards entered the room again and Gaius stood up. “Gaius,” the other man called and Gaius turned back, “I will figure out what   
you are hiding and when I do, I will make sure you pay for it.”

“I have nothing to hide,” Gaius said before he was led from the room.

\---

She stood at the glass doors that looked out on the city with unfocussed eyes, drawing patterns on the glass, a dreamy smile on her lips. She glanced down at the dolls that were lying on a table next to her, the blue, orange and second dolls separated from the one and red.

“Where are you going dear boy,” she said, picking up the 'red' doll and petting it. She placed it back down and picked up the 'one' doll and a frightening smile crossed her face. “He will not be able to protect you in the end,” she said, down at the 'red' doll. “All the soldiers will fall in the end,” she said, placing 'one' down and looking back the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The woman wasn't supposed to be that cliche, I promise, I wanted her to be a combination of Dru from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and River from Firefly, but I don't think that I pulled it off, she was much more crazy when I thought about it before I wrote it down.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur shows up and has some things to say to Merlin, the woman's identity is revealed and things start becoming interesting.

The ride was long and silent, Merlin could feel Lance moving below him, only imagining how cramped the other man was feeling, he wasn't faring much better. They watched as the city's lights went by, flashing across their faces, Merlin flinching every time they did. They were stopped twice more as they went along, each time they left, undiscovered. Every time they stopped at a light, both he and Lance held their breaths, wondering if it was another checkpoint and breathing a sigh of relief when they started moving again. Eventually they came to a stop and Morgana climbed out of the car and closed the door, leaving them in darkness. Outside the window, they could barely see dim lighting and gray walls, and could hear Morgana speaking in a low tone.

“Come on,” the door opened several minutes later and Merlin stepped out of the car, nearly falling, his legs having lost almost all feeling but a hand caught him.

“Are you alright?” the man who had caught him asked and he turned and pulled back, the man was huge, broad shouldered and several inches taller than himself. Merlin felt more confident, now that he had access to all of his magic, but this man made him weary.

“Lance, Merlin, this is Leon, don't worry, he's on our side,” Morgana said, introducing the man that still gripped Merlin's arm.

“Nice to meet you both,” Leon said, nodding to Lance who was sitting on the seat and rubbing feeling into his legs, “can you walk?” he asked Merlin who nodded and Leon let go.

“We're in a secure parking garage, only five people have full access here,” Morgana said, though she looked around as if she were expecting an attack at any moment. “I'll lead you upstairs to where you'll be staying when you're ready.”

“Can you take this thing off?” Merlin asked, having moved away from Leon, gesturing to the collar still around his neck.

“Right,” Morgana said, pulling a key from her pocket and unlocking the metal and Merlin took a deep breath for what felt like the first time in months.

“Thank you,” he said genuinely and Morgana smiled and nodded to him.

“Shall we?” she asked, turning and leading the way to a lift across the garage without waiting for an answer. The lift was only accessed through a key, both to call it to them and to get to the floor they desired. There were only two buttons on the panel they read 'P' and 'G' and Morgana turned her key again and pressed the 'P' button, the 'P' lighting up. 

Merlin stood in the middle, Morgana to his right, in front of the panel, Lance to his left and Leon behind him, which was making him nervous. It started to sink in that he was now in a lift with one person who was directly tied to Uther Pendragon, and another he didn't know at all, and no idea what to expect when they arrived at their destination. The ride was silent, Merlin feeling claustrophobic more and more as they went until they came to a halt and the doors opened.

Once opened, they exited and the doors opened into a large foyer, at least two stories high, that led into a sitting room. There were two plush couches in the middle of the room, one facing a large fireplace, the other the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the city. To the left of the sitting room, there was a dining area, separated only by a banister, a small table surrounded by four chairs sitting in the middle, a full kitchen just beyond that. There was a hallway to their right and Merlin could see several doors and a staircase near the end leading up.

“Where are we?” Lance asked looking around him and moved to the windows across the room to gaze out at the city.

“You're safe, that's all that matters,” Morgana said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear, turning away as she did.

“You can move further into the room,” Leon said to Merlin who hadn't moved away from the elevator.

“Right,” Merlin said and moved away from the doors and further into the living area, and away from Leon.

“Merlin,” Morgana's voice said, coming back from the kitchen where she had gone to make her call, “your room will be down here.” She led the way down the hall, to a door on the right and opened it. It opened to a room with a double bed sitting against the far wall and a dresser below the window and two folding doors to the right.

“You'll have to share a bathroom with Lance and Leon, there is only one full one across the hall and another half bath near the kitchen,” Morgana went on. “There are clothes in the dresser and closet, I used your file to find some things that will fit you,” she finished and closed the door. “Lance, your room is here,” she said opening the door a ways down the hall, nearly identical to Merlin's room. “I didn't go shopping for you, I just had your things brought over.”

“How much danger are you putting yourself in to help us?” Lance asked as they followed her back to the family room.

“Not as much as you would think, Uther has no idea that I'm involved and have been for years,” she said, shrugging.

“And your magic?” Merlin asked and she smiled at him.

“He has absolutely no idea, and it will stay that way. Now,” she said and led the way to the kitchen, expecting them to follow, “this is fully stocked, food, drinks, water, whatever you need. You have your TV,” she said sweeping her arm out to the family room, “and a small exercise room up those stairs, Leon can show you.”

“Leon's staying?” Merlin couldn't help but ask and he heard the man chuckle and Morgana smiled at him.

“Yes, he's your protection, he is one of only three people who have keys to this place and I trust him implicitly.” Merlin didn't want to tell her that it wasn't much consolation to him, considering who she was and her ties to Uther Pendragon.

“And if there is an emergency?” Lance asked.

“Leon will contact me,” she said and moved towards the lift, “I need to get back, I'll be here in a couple of days to check on you.” Leon followed her to the doors and they spoke in low tones for a moment before she turned her key and entered, letting the door close behind her.

“Would you like me to show you the gym?” Leon asked after several long moments of awkward silence.

“I think I'm going to lie down,” Merlin said as Lance agreed to the idea and the other two men left him to himself. He entered the room and closed the door, noting that it didn't lock from the inside or outside. He pulled out sleep pants and a quickly changed before climbing into the bed, and placing his hands behind his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark, that was all he knew, he couldn't see the hand in front of his face if he lifted it, but he could hear the sound of wind whipping past though he felt no breeze.

“Merlin,” he heard and spun around, though the voice sounded like it was coming from all directions. “Merlin.” 

“Who's there?” he called, searching the darkness but there was still nothing.

“Merlin,” the voice called again and he cursed, spinning around as the sound of something flapping came from behind him.

“Who are you?” he called and spun once more when he heard a deep chuckle, echoing around him. Grumbling he used his magic to summon a sphere of light, though it was small and only illuminated the ground around him.

“Do you not recognize me?” the voice said from directly behind him and turned again, gasping and falling back as he stared at an eye the size of his head. As he fell, his light went out and he heard the chuckle again and suddenly the darkness was gone and he found himself staring at a dragon. “We meet again,” the dragon said and Merlin picked himself up slowly.

“Again?” he asked as the dragon settled down, curling his front legs under him like a cat and lowered his head so he was able to see Merlin better.

“You know me,” the dragon said cryptically and Merlin knew he recognized the voice, he thought about it for a moment before a memory clicked into place.

“Kilgarrah?” he asked and the dragon nodded.

“This is my true form,” Kilgarrah explained, “dragon-born return to this form when they die.”

“So you are dead,” Merlin confirmed and the dragon raised his head and took a deep breath.

“Yes,” he replied simply.

“Why are you here then?” Merlin asked, wondering where they were and what they were doing there.

“Because I needed to speak to you, in this form, I cannot travel as easily as I did before, I do not have much time, even now.”

“All right,” Merlin said slowly, “what about?”

“Your destiny,” Kilgarrah replied and lowered his head again, turning it so one eye studied Merlin closely. “It is a great one indeed.”

“But I am no one,” Merlin protested, “I'm from a small village that no one has heard of, the son of a librarian, I'm nothing special.”

“That is not true,” Kilgarrah said, shaking his head, “you are the last of the Dragon Lords and the one that will put an end to our persecution.”

“Dragon Lord?” Merlin cried dubiously, “they've been extinct for hundreds of years.”

“As long as there are dragons, a Dragon Lord will exist,” the dragon explained and Merlin shook his head.

“But you were the last of the dragons, if there is no dragon, there are no Dragon Lord's,” he said, and when Kilgarrah remained silent, he felt unease set in. “There are other dragons,” he finally went on, feeling resigned.

“Just one, you will need to find her and soon,” the dragon said, pulling back and standing.

“How am I supposed to do that?” he demanded as Kilgarrah expanded his wings as if to take flight.

“Trust those around you,” the dragon said as he started to fade.

“Wait!” Merlin called, his voice echoing back to him, “I need more than that!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a start Merlin awoke, his eyes searching the near darkened room as he tried to get his breathing under control. Standing, he made his way into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face before glancing at his reflection in the mirror.

“Dragon Lord, right,” he muttered before leaving the room, turning off the light and closing the door behind him. Hearing voices from the front room, he walked down the hall and entered, finding Lance, Leon and another man there. All three were sitting at the table, the third man had his back to him, the only thing that Merlin could tell was that he had blond hair and broad shoulders.

“Oh, Merlin,” Leon said, noticing Merlin standing in the entry to the hallway and the other two turned towards him. All three stood and made their way towards him, and he fought the urge to take a defensive stance, though he felt his magic itching under his skin.

“Merlin,” Lance said slowly having made his way to the sorcerer's side, “this is Arthur,” he said, pointing to the blond, “Pendragon,” he continued after a long pause and Merlin jerked away from the other man.

“Are you kidding me?” he demanded as he looked at the three men in front of him, the itch of his magic becoming stronger, wanting to do damage and force his way out of the apartment. “You brought the son of the bastard that enslaves my people here?” He was nearly shouting now and Lance tried to place a placating hand on his arm but he jerked away, feeling betrayed.

“Actually,” Arthur said in a slow drawl, “I came here myself, this is my flat after all.”

Thoughts raced through Merlin's mind, was this some elaborate scheme, did they know that he was the last Dragon Lord? Had he been sold to Arthur, though he hadn't been cleared by Gaius? A thousand different thoughts came and went as he stared at the blond, trying to keep his magic in check.

“Oh, calm down,” Arthur snapped, and Merlin's glare turned to him, a spark of magic dancing off of his fingers. “I'm not here to turn you in,” Arthur went on, eying his hands wearily, “Morgana's not the brains of this plan, I am.”

“Why?” Merlin demanded and the other man shrugged casually.

“I have my reason's, but I can swear to you that I have no intentions of harming you or turning you over to my father.” They stared at each other for several long moments before Merlin reigned in his magic but his glare only intensified.

“I don't trust you,” he snarled and Arthur smirked at him.

“The feeling is mutual,” he replied and turned his back to Merlin and heading for the door. “I just came to see that you got all settled,” he told Percival as the other man followed.

“Merlin,” Lance said, placing a hand on his arm again but Merlin pulled away.

“Don't,” he snapped and returned to his room and collapsed on his bed and stayed there, ignoring Lance when he knocked, asking if he wanted dinner and eventually fell asleep. 

His dreams were filled with men in uniform dragging him away, Lance having betrayed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was at her vanity again, brushing her hair and humming her song when the doors to the room burst open and Uther Pendragon stormed inside.

“Hello dear,” she said, turning to him with a sweet smile, “how was your day?” Uther strode to her and pulled her up by her shoulders and shook her back and forth.

“Where are they?!” he demanded, his voice a low roar.

“Who dear?” she asked when he stopped shaking her, “the children? I sent them out to play, they'll be back in a while.”

“Don't play stupid with me,” he yelled and backhanded her, sending her to the floor where she stayed. “Where are they?” Uther asked, squatting next to her and pulling her head back by her hair.'

“I told you to put your playthings away Uther, not to lose them, losing just one would be your downfall,” she replied, blood running down her chin from her split lip. “Just one, was all it would take,” she repeated, “but now you've lost three. Your world will unravel at your feet,” she hissed at him and spat in his face. Growling, Uther stood and stepped back, wiping the spittle from his face with a handkerchief he pulled form his pocket.

“I will make you talk,” he said and stood back, calling out to three men near the door, each were holding a chain, and they made their way towards the woman.

“I'll talk,” she said, scrambling backwards, away from the men, “I'll talk, please not that,” she begged, her eyes filled with fear.

“It's too late my dear,” Uther replied and turned to leave the room, leaving the men to their work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gaius looked up from his book when his door opened to find Uther standing there, watching him. Sighing softly, he closed the book and set it on the table next to him.

“Come in or get out,” he said and Uther started as if he was waking from a daze and stepped into the room, the door closing behind him.

“Did you help them?” Uther asked, and Gaius just gazed back without responding. “I have kept your secret for years Gaius, and this is how you repay me?”

“Do not forget that I have also kept yours,” the other man replied and Uther's eyes narrowed as he turned to pace the small room.

“Kilgarrah sent me a message,” he finally said, several minutes later, Gaius had returned to his book, but looked up in interest at this news. Uther was holding what looked like an old scroll, sealed with wax, a dragon in full flight creating the seal.

“Have you read it?” he asked, putting the book aside and reaching for the scroll and took it when the other man didn't pull it away.

“No,” was the response, Uther nodded when Gaius looked to him for permission and he broke the seal, unrolling the parchment as he went. The language there was old, very few people in the world could read it and Gaius only knew some, but it seemed enough as he quickly scanned the message.

“Basically,” he said, sighing and rolling the scroll up before handing back, “it says that all that you feared is going to come to pass.”

“I won't let it,” Uther snarled and Gaius just gazed at him sadly.

“Am I to head to the executioner?” he asked a moment later and Uther shot him a glare.

“No, the secrets you hold are enough to keep you from him, just barely though,” with that he turned and exited the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merlin awoke with a start, gasping for air and staring at the ceiling above him, the nightmare still playing through his mind. Standing, he stumbled out of his room, barley acknowledging the clock that read one-twenty-three am. Pushing into the bathroom, he hissed at the brightness when he flicked on the light and splashed cold water on his face.

“I have to get out of here,” he said to his reflection and he quickly turned and moved back to his room, changing and heading back into the front room. The room was dark, so he quickly cast a small light charm that allowed him to see in front of him. Moving to the lift he stared at the key slot and wondered if he could make it work. He had only been able to make machines work a few times with his magic, and most times it had been luck. Sighing, he pressed his palm over the lock and closed his eyes, concentrating, pushing magic in to it. After several long moments and nothing happening, he was starting to feel despair when the lift 'dinged' and the doors opened.

“Huh,” he said as he glanced around, making sure that the sound hadn't alerted anyone. When there was no movement from the other men he stepped inside. Pressing his palm again to the lock he concentrated while pressing the 'G' button and held his breath as the button lit up and the doors closed.

“This seems too easy,” he said to his reflection that was looking back at him through the mirrored walls. He realized the he spoken too soon when the lift stopped and the doors opened to find Arthur Pendragon on the other side, looking as shocked as Merlin felt at the others presence.

“Sir?” a voice called from behind Arthur and Merlin caught a glimpse of a man in a suit standing behind Arthur and quickly ducked to the side.

“I'm fine,” Arthur called back, “you guys head home, I'm exhausted and want to just go to bed.”

“Sir, we need to sweep the apartment, you know your father's rules,” another voice, this one female said and Merlin felt sick.

“Not tonight, Leon is here, if there were any problems, he would have let me know,” Arthur argued, without turning back.

“Sir,” the woman protested again and Arthur threw a glare over his shoulder.

“I said go, I will deal with my father tomorrow, I will make sure that this doesn't come back on you.” There was a long moment of silence before the man and woman finally agreed and left and Arthur stepped into the lift. Merlin stayed pressed to the side as the other man inserted his key and pressed the 'P' button, all the while silent. The doors closed and they started moving but a moment later, Arthur hit the emergency stop and spun on Merlin.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?!” he demanded, crowding Merlin against the wall.

“I was getting out of here,” Merlin shot back, pushing on Arthur's chest but the other man didn't move.

“You have to be the biggest idiot on the face of this planet. Do you know what would have happened if it had been one of my guards standing there instead of me?”

“I could have fought my way out,” Merlin defended himself and Arthur's glare intensified.

“That's not even what I am talking about you moron,” he spat and curled his hand into a fist which Merlin watched wearily. “Are you aware of how many people's lives are on the line?” Merlin's eyes flew to the others in shock, he hadn't really thought of it that way. “Let's see,” Arthur went on, “mine, Morgana's, Leon's, Lance's, Gaius, and not to mention yours!” he yelled, poking Merlin in the chest. 

“It didn't even occur to you that we're putting our necks on the line for you, did it?” Arthur sounded surprised, noting the guilt in Merlin's eyes. “Selfish son of a bitch,” he said turning back to the panel and releasing the emergency stop. The rest of the ride was silent and the moment the doors opened, Arthur stormed out, Merlin following at a slower pace. He watched as Arthur walked into the kitchen and pulled a tumbler from a cupboard and poured a glass of something amber colored and throwing it back in one go.

“I didn't ask you to do this,” Merlin said, standing near the table and watched as Arthur poured himself a third glass, having swallowed the second in one gulp.

“Go away,” the other man said, shaking his head and headed up the stairs.

Merlin looked around, feeling too jazzed up to want to go back to bed and headed towards the windows, surprised when he realized that one opened to a large balcony. Stepping out, he took a deep breath and leaned against the railing there.

“You're not going to try to fly away now are you?” Arthur's voice had him spinning around to find the other man at the door, watching him. He had changed into a pair of sweats and a 'Camelot Univ.' sweatshirt and his feet were bare.

“Was thinking about it,” Merlin lied and the other man's eyes widened.

“You can do that?” he asked and Merlin shrugged, looking over the railing.

“Don't know, never tried,” he responded and Arthur huffed out a breath.

“We're forty stories up, I'd suggest finding something closer to the ground before you try,” he said and moved out on to the balcony and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs there.

“I'm sorry,” Merlin said, not looking at the other man, still studying the city skyline.

“Me too,” Arthur replied, “that was just too close Merlin. If they had moved closer, they would have been able to see you in the mirrors and then we'd all be fucked. Why were you trying to escape anyway? You're safe here.” When Merlin didn't reply, Arthur sighed deeply and laid back, looking up at the few stars he could barely see.

“My mother died giving birth to me,” he said a moment later when the silence had stretched between them, “so I was raised with nannies, and I loved them, especially my first. She was older, probably in her fifties, she gave the best hugs, she was heavy so when she hugged you, you squished into her. She had a secret though, she was a sorceress,” here he paused, he had loved Mildred, she had been so amazing, and he still missed her after all these years. “My father of course had no idea, but she used to entertain me, she would animate things, make my bed with a word, just silly things.”

“What happened?” Merlin asked when he had fallen silent.

“My father found out,” Arthur said around a lump in his throat. “She had my teddy bear dancing and singing and he walked in unannounced. I tried to tell him that it was me doing it,” he said with a bitter laugh, “but he didn't buy it. He ordered her execution right there, when I tried to fight him, she held me back, hugged me one last time and told me that I didn't have to be my father. They took her into the antechamber at the top of the tower and shot her, my father made me watch.”

“Gods, how old were you?” Merlin asked, sounding aghast.

“Eight,” Arthur replied, glancing at the other man who was staring back. “My father told me that he had to show me that they were evil, that's why they were controlled. Didn't work though, the only thing that he showed me was that he was evil and I promised her there and then that I wouldn't be him.”

“So you don't believe we're evil?” Merlin asked, sitting on one of the other chairs and Arthur turned his head to follow his actions.

“I believe that some are evil, just like there is evil non-magic users, like my father. I don't think you're evil, at least you haven't given me reason to think that.”

“I'm not evil,” Merlin replied, “I'm a Dragon Lord,” he went on and heard the other man suck in a breath, “the last of the Dragon Lord's.”

“Kilgarrah is dead,” Arthur pointed out and Merlin glanced at him.

“He wasn't the last dragon, there is one more and I need to find her, that's why I was trying to get out.”

“Well shit,” Arthur said, running a hand over his face, “why are you telling me this?”

“Why did you tell me about your nanny?” he shot back and the other man nodded “Plus, I was hoping you would help me.” After hearing Arthur's story about his nanny, he had made a split second decision to trust him, though he wasn't sure it was the right one.

“I'm not sure what I can do, but we'll figure it out,” Arthur promised and Merlin smiled at him, praying he wasn't making a huge mistake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aredian walked into the room and nodded to the three men standing near a control panel, each holding a chain that was attached to the woman on the bed.

“So beautiful,” he said, as he reached her and stroked her cheek, brushing he hair out off of her forehead. “How long has she been out?” he asked, glancing up when one of the men walked over to check the hooks in her skin.

“Two minutes, we're about to wake her up,” one of the others replied and Aredian smiled and turned back, jumping a bit when he saw that her eyes were open.

“Welcome back,” he said, smiling and watched as her eyes blinked slowly twice before closing again. “Is she awake?” he asked, turning back to the men but gagged when a hand shot out and wrapped around his throat.

“Hello Aredian,” Nimueh said, sitting up and smiling at him and with the hand that wasn't holding his throat, she pulled the hooks out of her skin and her eyes flashed gold and sent them at the three men. Each hook speared into their shoulders, causing them to scream and she lifted her hand and the chains attached to the hooks lifted as well.

“It's my turn,” she said, smiling at the men as she shoved Aredian against the wall with her magic and held him there.

Ten minutes later the security team was finally able to open the doors and three of the four fell back, gagging. The walls, floors, and ceiling were covered in blood, bits of flesh and bodily fluids. Against the wall, Aredian's body was slumped, his throat slit and his eyes burnt out of his skull. Above him in blood was written 'It's my turn' on the wall.d

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the only reason that Arthur is doing what he is doing, there are other reasons. Please leave me a note on what you think, thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and the others find that their temporary sanctuary is just that and they need to find a new one. Uther finds a replacement for Aredian and Merlin gets to see someone he hasn't in a long time.

OK, so here we go, another chapter, please let me know what you think, thank you.

\--------------------------------------

"We have a major problem," Morgana said as she stepped off of the lift and in to the apartment where Merlin, Lance, Leon and Arthur were eating breakfast the next morning.

"Well hello to you too, dear sister," Arthur said sarcastically and Morgana glared, not in the mood to banter.

"Not funny Arthur, I'm serious," she said and turned to lock the elevator doors, keeping anyone else from coming up unannounced. "Nimueh escaped," she said, turning back and moving over to the kitchen before pouring herself a large cup of coffee.

"What?" Lance, Arthur and Leon had leapt to their feet, Merlin who wasn't sure who Morgana was talking about stayed seated.

"Yes, and she killed Aredian and three of his guards," Morgana went on, sitting heavily in the seat that Lance had vacated.

"She killed Aredian?" Arthur asked, running a hand through his hair, "how did that happen?"

"No idea, but the tower is on complete lockdown, no one in or out."

"Then how did you get out?" Leon demanded and she glared at him.

"I was already out, headed home when father called to warn me that he was assigning additional security detail. It seems he thinks that we are in danger so we will have shadows watching our every move."

"We can't have additional detail," Arthur denied, "I'm harboring two fugitives."

"And he's finally catching on," Morgana said sarcastically.

"Wait, who is Nimueh?" Merlin finally spoke up and the others turned to him, almost if they had forgotten he was there.

"You remember how I told you last night that there are evil sorcerers out there, well she's at the top of the list. My father has had her locked up since he overthrew the Council and started his crusade to wipe magic from Camelot," Arthur explained.

"So she's had years to plan her revenge, she'd just been biding her time it seems," Morgana went on.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Lance asked but before anyone could answer, the buzzer near the elevator dinged, causing everyone to jump.

"Shit, they're here already," Morgana said, standing and all turned to stare at the communication device as it dinged again. "We're screwed," Morgana speaking everyone's thoughts.

\--------------------------------

Gaius sat alone in his room, having heard the alarms but had no clue as to what was going on. Sighing, he picked up his book again but stopped when he heard the door behind him open.

"Hello Gaius," a voice he hadn't heard in a long while said and he sighed but didn't turn.

"Hello Nimueh," he replied and listened as she stepped inside.

"Isn't this just ironic," she said, sitting on his bed and leaning back, bracing herself on her hands and crossing her legs, "you're all locked up and I'm free. I missed you Gaius," she said, pouting, "I haven't seen you in so long."

"Yes, well Uther did not think it was proper for me to treat you any longer," Gaius said, finally turning to her, taking in her appearance. She was wearing a guard's uniform, one that was at least one size too large, her hair tucked up under the cap, strands falling down her back. There were patches on the chest that were torn, and other's that were singed and there was a gun at her hip.

"No of course not," she replied, her voice sickeningly sweet, "no Uther decided to hand me over to Aredian and his goons. Do you know what they did to me?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom.

"No, I do not, and I am sorry…"

"Oh, cut the bullshit Gaius, you never cared about me, you were just another of Uther's pawns, hoping to keep yourself out of a collar, throwing the rest of us to the wolves." She was on her feet now, hands clenched and leaning over him threateningly.

"I did what I could to help," he defended himself, refusing to back down from her, knowing that if he showed an ounce of weakness she would tear him apart.

"Right," she said, calming again and sitting on the table next to him, "like letting Emrys escape. Oh, don't look so surprised," she admonished at his startled look, "Kilgarrah told me about the legendary Emrys and how he was going to stop all of this," she said, waving a hand around the room.

"I don't know who you are talking about," he denied, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head when his air was cut off by a mere tilt of the woman's head.

"You do know who I am talking about," she said casually, as if she weren't choking him, "and you're going to help me find him." She kept her hold on his airway for a moment longer before releasing him and he fell forward gasping for air.

"What do you want with him?" he demanded, his voice strained.

"Oh, that's simple," she said, leaning in close and speaking directly into his ear, "I'm going to kill him."

\-------------------------------

"Mr. Pendragon," a voice came through the speaker after the bell had rung another time, "sir if you don't answer, we will come up with force."

"Shit," Arthur said and moved to the plate and pressed the button, "I'm here, sorry I was in the bathroom," he responded.

"Right," the man responded after a moment, "sir, we need to come up, there have been some changes and your father has ordered extra protection, we need to come up and check your apartment."

"There is no reason for you to come up, I've been here all night, no surprises," Arthur said, trying to dissuade them.

"Sir, your father has told us that we are to search everywhere with everything that has been going on, and since you didn't allow your security detail up last night, this really is not up for discussion." With that the watched as the light above the lift lit up indicating that the elevator was moving.

"I thought you said only a few people had keys to that lift," Lance said, turning to Morgana who looked panicked.

"Yes, and my father is one of them, he must have given his key to them," she defended.

"What are we going to do?" Leon asked, trying to stay calm.

"I don't know, Merlin," Morgana started and turned to Merlin and Lance but was shocked to see them gone. "Where did they go?" she asked, looking around but it seemed that the two men had vanished.

"They were here a second ago," Leon said, also looking around but turned back to the lift when it dinged and quickly took his seat.

"Mr. Pendragon," the head of the security said, stepping off of the elevator first and looked around, followed by two others, another man and a stern looking woman. "I'm Lieutenant Rogers, this is Officer's James and Williams," he said pointing to the other two.

"Nice to meet you," Arthur replied watching them move further into the room, James and Williams moving towards the hallway, James heading upstairs, Williams searching the rooms downstairs.

"Second room has been slept in," Williams said, coming back, looking between the people there.

"Upstairs looks untouched," James said, coming down a moment later.

"And an additional plate on the table," Rogers said, looking around the kitchen.

"It's mine," Leon said pulling the extra plate to him and the officers narrowed their eyes at him.

"And I slept in the other room," Morgana spoke up and returned their glares.

"Something is going on here," Rogers said, looking between everyone, accusation in his gaze.

"Prove it," Morgana said, moving into his space and staring him down.

"Let's go," Rogers said a few long moments later when they had stared at each other, "we'll be downstairs and will be back here every two hours."

"If you're going to be downstairs, how will anyone get up here?" Arthur demanded and Rogers turned his glare on him.

"Every two hours," he snapped and turned on his heel, and moved towards the lift. The other two followed him, but Williams stopped and stared at a place near the couch.

\----

The moment the three officers stepped off of the elevator, Merlin grabbed Lance's arm and dragged him towards the couch. They watched as the three officers moved into the house, walking past him and Lance, not seeming to notice them. When Lance opened his mouth, he elbowed him hard, not sure why this was happening but it seemed that no one could see them. He watched as Lieutenant Rogers snapped something to Arthur and turned to the lift but Williams turned towards them and stared.

"Williams!" Rogers snapped and the man turned towards his boss for a moment before he turned back and raised a finger as if to poke the air in front of him. As the finger inched closer to Merlin's nose Merlin sucked in a silent breath. "Williams!" Rogers barked again and the man in front of Merlin stopped and turned back and moved towards the lift, glancing back once. As the lift arrived, Lance sneezed, in the horrible clichéd way and Merlin cursed.

Leon, Morgana and Arthur watched as their security detail finally moved towards the lift, Williams, finally getting into gear when they heard a sneeze from near the couch and suddenly Merlin and Lance were there.

Before any of the surprised security officers could do anything, Merlin threw balls of energy at them, slamming them into the walls and knocking them unconscious.

"What the hell?" was Arthur's voice as he stared open mouthed at the two men who had appeared out of nowhere. "You can turn invisible?"

"I guess so," Merlin said, moving forward and checking to make sure the officer's were alive, feeling relieved when he felt sturdy pulses under his fingers.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Morgana demanded, looking around at the others. "When they wake, up they'll tell Uther that you were here, hiding, we'll all be in deep shit."

"No," Merlin said after a minute of thinking and they turned towards him, "you will come with me," he said looking at the siblings who stared back blankly. "You can be my hostages, Leon, you can say you had no idea I was here, I attacked you and them and took Morgana and Arthur."

"Merlin, you already have a price on your head, this is an insane idea," Morgana protested.

"If I already have a price on my head, I have nothing to worry about," he replied cheekily.

"Merlin," Lance tried but Arthur interrupted him.

"He's right, it's the only way to explain what he was doing here without implicating ourselves."

"Arthur how are we going to get out of here?" Morgana demanded, her hands on her hips.

"The same way we got in," Merlin responded and she rounded on him. "I suggest we pack up some food and clothes and head for the city limits."

"How do you expect to get past the city guards?" Lance demanded this time and Merlin smiled grimly at him.

"I'll try the invisibility trick again and if that doesn't work, I'll just have to subdue them," he said and ignored the other's stares as he turned to enter his room. He didn't want to face them, he was afraid that they would be able to see his fear. He was telling the truth when he said that he didn't know he could turn invisible, he'd never done it before. He had just thought that it was something he needed to do and it seemed to work. The attacking the officers had been out of desperation, he'd never attacked someone and was grateful he hadn't killed them. He had never had this much power before, his power seemed to be twice as strong as it had been and it frightened him.

"Are you ready?" Lance's voice pulled him from his musings minutes later and he looked up and nodded and followed the other man into the living area where the others were waiting.

"Ready?" he asked looking at Leon who took a deep breath and nodded. Summoning up his power Merlin flung another energy bolt, this time not as strong and Leon flew into the table.

"He's fine," Arthur said who had been the one to check on his friend and Merlin nodded, sending the unconscious man a silent apology.

"Let's go," Morgana said impatiently and they stepped past the unconscious officers on to the lift and watched as the doors closed.

\-------------------------

"Come on, open it," Nimueh said pushing Gaius at one of the entrances to the tunnels that ran through the building but the man refused to cooperate. "Open it or I'll slaughter this pretty little thing," she said pulling a young witch towards her, one hand in her hair.

"Open it yourself," Gaius replied, and Nimueh sighed before using her magic to snap the girls neck and the older man stared in horror.

"Oh don't look at me like that, I did warn you," Nimueh said, "hopefully you will take me seriously now. Plus, you know that I can't open these," she said, waving at the wall, "Kilgarrah sealed them from me, the son of a bitch. Now open it," she snapped and Gaius placed his hand on the hidden door and it slid open. "Wonderful!" Nimueh praised and pushed him ahead of her as they entered the hallway, the door sliding shut behind them.

\------------------------

"Would someone like to explain to me how my son and daughter ended up kidnapped by the man we are searching for?" Uther Pendragon asked, pacing in front of Leon and the three officers. His voice was a low growl and it had the three officers shaking, having never had to be in front of the man, much less to answer for his children disappearing. They were currently in his personal study in his home, having moved there for safety, sitting on the other side of the large mahogany desk, Uther's secretary sitting against the far wall, taking notes.

"I'm not sure," Leon spoke up, he had dealt with Uther before, never in this capacity, but he felt calm. "He was just suddenly there, I'd never seen him before," Leon said, shrugging.

"Get out of here," Uther snapped at the three officers, "you're on suspension until further notice, do not leave the city, in fact do not leave the building." With that the three were up and out of their chairs and racing out of the room. "Go over it again," Uther said turning back to Leon.

"This morning, everything seemed normal, Morgana had spent the night after staying late, we woke up, made breakfast and then those three showed up. They forced their way up in the lift, without permission from Arthur, as soon as they arrived, the sorcerer suddenly appeared. He threw me against the table, knocking me unconscious and I'm not sure what happened after that. Next thing I knew, I woke up to find those three standing around seeming confused and Arthur and Morgana were missing."

"Do you think Williams, Rogers and James were in on it?" Uther demanded as he made his way around his desk to sit down.

"I'm not sure sir, but that sorcerer didn't show up until they did." Uther opened a drawer and pulled out a small bottle, quickly popping a small blue pill into his mouth.

"My children are missing, Nimueh is somewhere in the tower, running loose, when the hell did this all fall apart," he said from where he had placed his head in his hands a moment before. Leon stayed silent, knowing that this was a rhetorical question and almost felt bad for the older man, almost. "Go, get out of here, but I want you at the tower we need all the extra security we can afford," he said, looking back up and Leon nodded and stood.

Once Leon was gone, Uther turned to his secretary who looked back waiting for his next instructions.

"Contact Cenred, I want Morgause brought here," he said finally and Caleb opened his mouth in surprise.

"But sir," he said, finally able to get his mouth to form words, "Morgause is…"

"I know what she is, but she may be the only way to stop all of this," Uther snapped and Caleb shut his mouth and nodded.

"I'll call them now sir," he said and stood, making his way out of the office.

\-------------------------------

"Ok, here we go," Morgana said as they approached the city limits and the guards who were standing there. She glanced in the rear view mirror and was a bit disconcerted that Merlin and Lance had disappeared when they were there a second ago.

"Ms. Le Fey," the guard who approached them said, sounding surprised as he looked through the back windows, "Mr. Pendragon," he said to Arthur who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Good morning Thomas," Morgana said sweetly, a flirty smile on her lips.

"Where are you headed this morning?" Thomas asked turning back to Morgana and returned her smile.

"You know that I visit the Children's Hospital every week, today is that day," she replied.

"But you usually go on Thursday, today is only Tuesday," Thomas reminded her and she fought the urge to grind her teeth.

"Yes, well I'm not going to be able to make it Thursday so I switched it to today and Arthur volunteered to come along. He has no life you see," she said the last in an exaggerated whisper and winked at the guard. Thomas laughed and waived them through, both Morgana and Arthur calling a thank you as they went.

"Where are we heading?" Morgana asked after traveling for some time, having left the bigger city, they were now passing field after field of wheat and corn.

"Ealdor," Merlin replied decidedly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Arthur asked from where they were parked two blocks away from Merlin's childhood home.

"No, it's probably a horrible idea," Merlin responded, making to get out of the car, "but it's the only thing I can think of."

"Wait," Lance said, grabbing Merlin's arm and pulled him back just as they saw a Camelot Security cruiser pass and stop outside Merlin's home. Two women and a man climbed out of the car and approached the front door before knocking. Merlin felt his heart lurch in his chest when he saw his mother answer the door and proud when she refused to budge. They were obviously too far away to hear the exchange but they could see Hunith becoming angrier the more they spoke.

The man had been talking and became more agitated the more he spoke to the Hunith until one of the women put her hand on his arm and said something quietly to him. The man didn't respond right away, but he eventually stepped back and let her move forward. It took nearly ten minutes, but eventually Hunith sighed and moved back to let them in.

"Fuck," Merlin said, sitting back and pulling the door closed and leaned his head back against the headrest.

"What now?" Morgana asked but didn't receive a response.

"I guess we move on," Arthur finally ventured after twenty minutes of silence.

"No," Merlin replied, "I have to see my mother, let her know that I'm ok."

"Merlin, did you not see those Camelot Security officers enter your house?" Morgana asked, turning in her seat to look at him.

"I did, but I have an idea," he said and exited the car before any of them could respond.

"Oh well, that makes it all better," she said, watching him through the rearview mirror as he slipped behind a building to their left. "Should we go?" she asked after a minute and received twin glares in response. "Jeez, it was just a question," she muttered and turned to watch Merlin's house for any sign of him.

\---

"For the last time," Hunith said, glaring at the three people in her kitchen, "I haven't seen Merlin since you assholes dragged him out of here."

"And for the last time, it was not us that took him," the man said, he had told her his name when they knocked on the door, but really, she couldn't give a fuck.

"No, but you seem to think you own him, which I do not agree with. And besides, what the hell is Camelot doing here, you have no jurisdiction in Ealdor, we're in Cenred's kingdom."

"We have authorization to seek an escaped slave-" one of the women, the redhead, the other was blond, started to say but stopped at Hunith's glare. "I mean a fugitive," she corrected herself, "whether it is in our kingdom or any other."

"Well I can tell you now, if I did know where he was, I wouldn't tell you so you might as well fuck off," she snapped and turned when the tea kettle whistled and poured herself a cup. Once she was done, she turned and poured the rest of the water down the sink, making sure that the other three occupying her kitchen couldn't have any.

"Mrs. Emrys," the blond, the one that had schmoozed her way in to Hunith's kitchen said, she was trying, and failing, to be the peacekeeper of the group, "you know that aiding him is a crime and we can arrest you." At this, Hunith snorted inelegantly.

"Try," she said, glaring at them over the rim of her cup. The man opened his mouth, probably to read her her rights but was interrupted by a knock on the door. The three guards stood with their hands on their weapons but Hunith ignored them and opened the door.

"Will," she said, taking in the sight of the young man that had been Merlin's best friend since they were children, "how are you my boy?" she asked pulling him in to a hug which he returned. Since Merlin had been gone, Hunith had seen more and more of Will, he told her that Merlin had made him promise to look after her if anything happened to him. She and Will's own mother, June were best friends now and spent a lot of time together, they helped when her grief became too much.

"Hello Hunith," he replied and kissed her cheek, "I have that order you made last week."

"Order?" she parroted, knowing that she hadn't made an order and had planned to make one tomorrow. Will and his family owned a small grocery store that made home deliveries to those who needed it. Though Hunith didn't need it, she did occasionally order things when they insisted and they delivered it for free.

"Yes, you remember," he encouraged and Hunith could see an earnest look on his face, "you made it last Wednesday."

"Oh, right, I'm sorry," she said, deciding it was best to go along with it, "it slipped my mind."

"We'll need to take a look at those," the man said, coming forward and Will's eyes narrowed at them.

"Like hell I'm going to let you go through my groceries," Hunith said, spinning on them, "you'll probably bruise the fruit."

"We'll be careful," the blond replied and Hunith opened her mouth but a hand on her arm stopped her and she turned to Will.

"It's ok Hunith," he said, "I'll keep an eye on them, make sure they don't make too much of a mess." Hunith knew he was trying to convey something to her, but couldn't put her finger on it.

"All right, as long as you keep an eye on them."

"You stay here, just in case," the man said to the redhead who nodded and turned back to the kitchen, and as the other two pushed past Hunith and Will, they didn't see the young man's distressed face.

"Back shed," Will whispered as quietly as he could and turned to follow the others to his truck. Hunith didn't waste a minute, telling the redhead that she needed to get something from the shed, she turned and tried to walk as calmly as she could. Her backyard was small, mostly consisting of a garden where she grew her own tomatoes and squash and a small shed stood in the far right corner. Taking a quick look around, she made sure she hadn't been followed before opening the door and stepping inside. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the low lights, the only light coming from windows that were above most people's heads. As she looked around the potting supplies she heard a footstep from her right and turned.

"Mum," was all she heard before her arms were full of her son, his arms wrapped around her back tightly.

"My boy, oh my boy," she cried, nearly crushing her to him, tears streaking her face as she held him, vowing to never let him go now that she had him back. A few moments later, she pushed him away, just enough to look over him. "Are you well?" she demanded and he nodded, though she could see there were dark circles under his eyes and he had lost a lot of weight. "You need a haircut," she said, tugging on his long hair, he had always kept it short, but it was obvious he hadn't had a decent cut in a long time.

"Are you alright?" Merlin asked, evading her comment, hating that his hair was so long.

"I'm fine Merlin, so much better now that I have you back," she said and pulled him back in for a hug. When he stiffened, she refused to let him go, knowing that he wasn't back for good.

"Mum, they're looking for me," he said, his head still resting on her shoulder, though he had to bend down to reach it. Even though his undernourishment had stunted his growth, he was still a few inches taller than her.

"Can't you stay, just for a bit longer?" she begged and felt him shake his head.

"I had to see you, let you know that I'm all right," he said and pulled back reluctantly.

"Are you?" she demanded, "are you all right? Because you are thinner than I remember, and you've always been thin, but this is much more so."

"The camps weren't the best place," Merlin replied, not willing to go in to detail, "but I'm better now, I'm with people I can trust." Hunith searched Merlin's eyes and seemed to be satisfied with what she saw there and pulled him back in.

"What are you planning to do?" she asked.

"I have to find the last dragon," he explained.

"Kilgarrah is dead," his mother pointed out and he shook his head.

"There's another, I have to find her," he explained.

"But why you?" she demanded, "it is a dangerous business dealing with dragon's, they aren't the kindest of creatures."

"Because I'm the last Dragon Lord," Merlin explained and was surprised when Hunith's complexion went pale.

"No," she said, pulling back and shaking her head, "you weren't supposed to have that curse."

"What?" Merlin asked, confused as she moved further away from him when he reached out.

"You're father promised me," she said, pressing her hands to her face.

"Mum, what are you saying?" Merlin demanded and she looked up at him, new tears on her cheeks.

"Your father was a Dragon Lord," she finally said and he stared at her, he had not known about this, "he said he was the last of them, that you wouldn't become one."

"Is being a Dragon Lord so bad?" he asked.

"Yes!" she cried and Merlin pulled back in shock. "When he died, Kilgarrah the dragon disappeared, I should have known that wasn't the end of it. That must be why you are a carrier," she said, glancing down at his abdomen, "to continue the line." Before Merlin could respond or she could go further, they heard a voice call from outside the shed.

"Hunith?" it was the redhead and Hunith realized that she had been gone too long.

"Merlin you need-" she started to say and turned to find that Merlin was gone. "I love you Merlin, please be safe," she said, hoping he could somehow hear her before she wiped her eyes and left the shed.

\-------------------------------------

Arthur, Morgana and Lance were having a heated discussion on whether they should leave or not, Morgana had brought Lance around to her side but Arthur refused to go.

"Don't you think, that if he had been captured, you would see him being dragged out of that house?" Arthur was pointing to Merlin's home where the man and woman were finishing up searching through what looked like food.

"Well, where else would he be?" Morgana demanded, debating on whether she should just start the car and drive off, Arthur be damned.

"Here," Merlin's voice said as the door opened and closed without them seeing anyone but a moment later Merlin revealed himself holding a bag of something. "I have a car waiting," he said, holding up the key to said car.

"We have a car," Morgana pointed out and Merlin shook his head.

"They'll be looking for this one, it's big and bulky and I'm sure on every security system's scanners, they'll spot us from miles away."

"Where did you get a car?" Arthur demanded and Merlin grinned at him.

"Friends in high places," he replied.

"And what do you say we do with this one?" Lance asked.

"Like I said, friends in high places," Merlin said, stepping out of the car and the others could see a group of about five young men standing about ten feet away. "Kanan, it's all yours," he called, "Morgana, keycard please."

"Who are these guys Merlin?" Arthur asked, pulling his bag out of the back.

"Local chop shop," Merlin replied, "they found me and I offered them the car in exchange that they don't tell anyone that I was here and they get rid of it."

"You want to chop my baby?" Morgana demanded, coming around the side of the car and glaring at the group.

"Morgana, it's that or they turn us in and take your car anyway," Merlin pointed out.

"What do you mean turn us in, Arthur and I are just innocent bystanders," Morgana pointed out and Merlin stared at her in shock.

"You did not just say that," Arthur accused and Morgana shook her head as if coming out of a daze.

"You're right, I'm sorry," she said, "I'm just very attached to this car," she said and laid a hand on the rear window.

"I'm sorry Morgana," Merlin replied, still feeling a bit shaken at what she had said, "but it's the best choice."

"I guess," she said before she leaned her head against the car, whispered a quiet 'I'm sorry' and tossed the keycard to the man in front of the group.

"You never saw us right?" Merlin demanded of him and the other man grinned.

"For this piece, saw who?" he asked and Merlin nodded as the group moved in on the car.

"You're kidding me," Arthur said when Merlin had led them to their new car.

"What?" Merlin asked, looking over the old Mustang that was a bit rundown around the edges, the paint was chipping and there were rust spots but it ran like it was brand new.

"You said inconspicuous," Arthur pointed out.

"This is inconspicuous," Merlin defended and tossed his bags in the back.

"Merlin, this thing still takes petrol," Morgana pointed out, she was standing five feet away from the car and refused to come closer.

"Yes and you'd be surprised at how many cars out here do, we can't all be rich and live in Camelot," Merlin said sardonically and opened the driver side door. "Get in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't know if I like how Hunith and Merlin's conversation ended, I just couldn't think of something else now, I might go in and change it later and I don't know what is going on with Morgana, that will unfold interestingly I have a feeling. I have most of the main characters planned out in my head, what happens with the supporting cast, kind of comes up on a whim, so it should be interesting. Lance is loyal to Merlin, but he's also weary of him and being caught. Oh, and yay for crazy Nimueh, can I just say that I am having a lot of fun writing her? Oh, and Morgause, I'll just leave it at that.


End file.
